


Dungeons and Destinies

by MistressofLoki



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-28
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-05-16 21:19:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 63,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5841370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MistressofLoki/pseuds/MistressofLoki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Darcy Lewis is all set to leave London and the craziness of life with Jane Foster behind her. But when the Convergence brings her a chance encounter with a certain sexy and charismatic god of mischief, Darcy finds her life spiralling on an entirely different adventure starting with a positive pregnancy test and a looming threat of a mad titan. The next thing she knows she's been thrown back into the world of S.H.I.E.L.D and Avengers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. No one's calling her back

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gyoro_and_Ururun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gyoro_and_Ururun/gifts).



> So this is the third and final rewrite of Dungeons and Destinies. I have finally gone back and started writing it in a way that I'm happy with. I cringed at the second rewrite but not as much as the first. I plan on very much staying on top of this one. So please enjoy.

“Jane isn’t calling me back,” Darcy declared irritably as she paced across the room. She’d been doing it alternately for the past two minutes, blocking Ian’s view of the itv news channel he was rather fond of watching. “Erik isn’t calling me back,” she added as she weaved around the couch towards her temporary desk. “Stupid S.H.I.E.L.D isn’t calling me back.”

“What’s Shield?” Ian tore his gaze away from the television and looked towards her.

Darcy caught herself quickly. “It’s a secret,” she told him. She lifted her phone to her ear as Erik’s voicemail message finally finished. “Hey Erik, it’s Darcy again,” she tried to smother her irritation. “Thor came back. He took Jane to Asgard. And I’m not sure what I’m…” she paused, realising how lame her message sounded, “supposed to do,” she finished feebly. Hanging up, she pressed the phone to her lips.

How the heck was she supposed to explain this to Mrs Foster? _Hi. So…. Your daughter’s space boyfriend finally came back today and whisked her off to the land of sciency-magic and rainbow travel. And it’s a bit out of range for any of us to call her, even on Orange. So… can you please not kick me and Ian out please?_ Darcy was not looking forward to that conversation. Not to mention that was without mentioning the freaky red blast that had come from Jane in the first place. Or the fact that Jane had been missing five hours and then turned up in the exact same place that they’d been looking for her, now with that red thing.

Darcy was really not equipped for this. She was a frickin _intern_. She should be dealing with making coffee, learning the ropes of working life from her boss, working towards a paid career. This… None of this fit that criteria. Well aside from the coffee. She was learning _squat_ about real working life only: aliens, how to mope over an Asgardian boyfriend 101, how to run and hide from an explosive robot, or hide in Tromso so that the psycho _behind_ the killer robot couldn’t find them, how to chase up _more_ strange readings on Jane’s gadget thing by crossing the Atlantic and how not to crash into oncoming London traffic. And on top of all this, she wasn’t even getting danger money.

It would have been another thing if Erik was around. He’d know what to do in this situation. But Darcy hadn’t seen him in at least three weeks. Not since his mental health had deteriorated even more since New York. She felt bad for the guy, she really did. But right now they needed him. She was not trained for this. She’d been stood there stewing for a few minutes when Ian’s voice finally interrupted her thoughts.

“Darcy! You really need to look at this.”

 _I swear to God, or Thor, or whatever, if this another one of those newscasts about monkeys…_ Darcy thought to herself. _I’m going to kill him._

Turning around, Darcy had a brief impression of Stonehenge on the television and a group of men running around. One of them seemed to be carrying some long, narrow equipment and a great deal of him was censored owing to the fact that he was completely nude.

“Your friend Erik,” Ian remarked. “What was his last name again?”

Darcy walked around the couch, taking a seat next to Ian as footage of the nude man being bundled into a police car appeared on screen. Another shot of him running around Stonehenge appeared but this time Ian paused it as the camera zoomed in. Darcy’s stomach sank. It was Erik alright. Darcy pulled a face. Streaking nude around Stonehenge? That was one thing if you were drunk but she had a sinking feeling that Erik was not, in fact, drunk.

“Oh jeez, turn it off,” she said as she got to her feet again. “There goes our last resort.” She added, shaking her head. “Damn it!” she declared as she kicked out at the nearest thing. Mrs Foster’s entertainment centre. Pain flared all over her foot as well as knocking a few CDs off a shelf, causing their covers to smash to the ground. After mumbling a curse, Darcy eyed them resentfully before glancing at Ian. “This did not happen.” She told him before thinking over her words. “Ok so it did happen but it happened in the name of science.”

Ian’s eyebrow rose. “How are you going to pass that off?”

She shrugged. “I’ll say Jane did it. She’s always kicking things when her equations go all screwy.”

“She does?” Ian sounded surprised.

“Oh yeah,” Darcy confirmed. “Don’t be fooled by her size. For a little woman, she has… an equally little threshold for annoyance.” Darcy waved it off before clutching her head. “Ok back to the important shit.”

“Maybe that S.H.I.E.L.D thing will call you back?” Ian suggested hopefully.

“Answer a call from Darcy the intern? I doubt it. They probably blocked my number,” she grumbled. She dumped her phone on the side. “After all this… if there is an _after all this_ I am out of here. I don’t even think this shit is worth getting paid for.”

Ian looked rather crestfallen. “So you won’t be needing an intern.”

Darcy felt kinda sorry for the guy but she nodded. “Trust me now before you learn the hard way. You are better off out of it.” She told him before turning and heading into the kitchen, towards the back door. It opened out onto a rooftop terrace. No wonder Jane liked to hang out on rooftops. “I’ll be outside if anyone calls,” she called back to Ian half-heartedly and stepped outside onto the wet, concrete rooftop.

Across from her, the city of London twinkled in a thousand lights. Darcy directed her attention upwards towards the stars which glittered just as brightly even above the haze of light pollution. _Are you ok, Jane? Give me a sign or something. Write a message in the stars or something. A yes Darcy would be nice. Even just a constellation Adonis nodding his head?_ The stars remained unmoving, the breeze remained cold and nothing changed

 _Come on, give me something._ Darcy thought as she wandered over towards the half wall. She was only an inch or so from it when the world disappeared around her and something jerked beneath her feet.

She stumbled forward and everything around her was white. The air was warm and still. As she caught herself against the wall, to stop her from falling, she noticed that the floor was no longer damp or concrete. It was just as white as the ceiling and walls.

“Am I dead? Did I fall off the roof?” she voiced aloud. It was worth a shot. If she was dead (and that would _really_ suck, she was this close to completing Spyro Year of the Dragon. For fuck’s sake, fate,) then there was supposed to be some old guy to show her around right? Unless exclusivity meant she had to go to that other place. That was crap though. She’d worked unpaid for the last couple of years. That had to get her into the good place right?

“No,” a deep, charismatic voice spoke from behind her. “I think you’ll find that you’re very much alive. For now.”

Darcy spun around and her face nearly made contact with a forest green shirt and a brown leather-looking, sleeveless jacket. “Whoa there!” she jumped back a little and raised her gaze to the man’s face. “Come on dude, there’s such a thing as personal spa-” her words trailed off as she took him in. He was tall and lean with powerful looking shoulders. Raven hair spilled over his shoulders and his face was pale, brightened only by a pair of emerald eyes. His thin lips curved into an unpleasant smile and Darcy’s stomach jolted. She knew who he was. She’d hacked into enough S.H.I.E.L.D files to know who he was.

Thor’s brother Loki. Sender of the Destroyer and instigator of the alien attack on New York.

“ _Holy shit._ ”


	2. Why the heck am I here?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy is trapped in Loki's cell and finds herself exchanging views with the villainous Prince

Darcy retreated against the wall. Not her greatest move but anything that put distance between her and this creep was better than the alternative. “Y-you just stay away from me!” she told him, holding her hand. A vain effort to ward him off. _Like that_ _’s going to do anything._ She could see the amusement dancing in his eyes as they followed her predatorily. 

Her other hand felt at her belt, the usual home for her taser. Except it connected with nothing. Her taser was in her bedroom back in Mrs Foster’s house. _Stupid you!_ She told herself. _This kind of situation is exactly_ _why you have it!_ Cheeks flushing, she shrank into herself a little, eager for any extra space between her and the New York psychopath.

Except he wasn’t really from New York. He was from Asgard. Darcy’s eyebrows shot upwards. _Asgard_ _…_

 _Oh god where on Asgard am I? And why is he here?_ She looked around Loki edgily, bringing her gaze back to him every other second. _Am I in his dungeon?!_

The other cell walls were as stark white as the one she stood against, except for a wall of a fierce golden, glowing material, giving Darcy the impression of electrical caging. Whatever it was, it didn’t seem like it’d be much fun to touch much less walk through. Especially since it seemed to be the only thing holding Loki in here. A golden framed bed with a dark green coverlet and soft plump pillows occupied a lot of the room. There was a small, green cushioned chair and table opposite which were also of the same golden design. A pile of thick tomes sat on the table next to a candlestick. Darcy stared around it incredibly. It was the most luxurious cell she’d ever seen. More than the bastard deserved.

“Are you kidding me?” she gestured to it all as she edged her way across the wall, away from the shimmering doorway. “This… this… this is ridiculous.” Every piece of his furniture was far more glamorous than the entire spare room she lived in Mrs Foster’s house (no offence to to Mrs Foster) and she was a law abiding citizen. He was a mass murderer and he got gold crafted furniture. Anger began to pool within her stomach, bubbling away slowly and heatedly. To her infuriation, his smirk deepened and he began to follow her slowly. 

“I-I’m serious…” she told him again, jerking her finger towards him and summoning the heat of all her anger to cover the rising chill from her fear. “I’m a… I know Thor and he will… will not be happy if you do anything-”

“I know Thor too.” The bastard was grinning now.

Darcy stopped in her tracks. “You tried _to kill_ Thor. There’s a difference.”

Loki’s chuckle was deep, sounding sinister to Darcy’s ears. “Yes and I failed. Why not take solace in that? Such pessimism.” He stopped a few feet away from her and eyed her with a critical gaze, tilting his head, like a predator toying with how to eat his prey.

Darcy stared back at him, if only out of sheer fright. How could he… this guy… how could this monster be related to Thor? They were so different; Thor was boisterous, kind of adorable in a puppy kind of way and then there was this guy who was just plain creepy, disturbing and yet… _drop dead gorgeous._ She ignored that thought. Even physically the two men looked nothing like each other. Thor, the literal golden boy, with his blonde locks, facial hair and blue eyes looked nothing like this… this demon before her. All black and white with his dark hair, white skin and dark clothes with cheekbones to die for. Potentially literally. The only thing colourful about his physical features were his emerald eyes. And Darcy would be lying if she said there wasn’t a particular trance to them. Something that kept hooking her gaze when she lingered too long on them. Something that was becoming increasingly difficult to do. How could this guy be Thor’s brother? They looked nothing like each other.

“I’m not,” that rich, cultural sounding voice purred.

Darcy blinked. “Eh?”

“Thor’s brother.”

Darcy scowled at him. So he could mind-read. Fan-fucking-tastic. “Get out of my head, you!” she shrieked as she pushed herself into the corner and began to slide across the adjacent wall. His eyes followed her and he chuckled, it was a rich, rumbling noise that carried around the cell without him even having to raise his volume. The echoes of it ran down Darcy’s spine in seductive chills.

 She pushed those sensations away immediately as she moved. He appeared to have stopped endeavoring to follow her and was instead turning on the spot, amusement lighting up his angular features. It would have made a charming expression if his grin hadn’t had such a wicked tint to it. Darcy scowled at him as she moved away from the wall and into the centre of the room.

“I terrify you don’t I?”

“No shit Sherlock,” Darcy fired back. “You send a killer robot to attack New Mexico. You send an army to invade New York and you’re looking at me like I’m something to eat. So yeah, I think that’s all the boxes ticked for pretty fucking terrified!”

“I read that as two methods so far,” Loki practically purred as he began to saunter around the cell. “Two out of many ways I could end your life right here, little mortal. Your people say bad things do come in threes.”

“Less of the little you… you… alien creep…” Darcy shakily retorted but it was hard to sound badass when your enemy was alluding to the many (and no doubt agonising) ways in which he could slaughter you. His amusement seemed to heighten.

“To one such as I, with my lifespan, with my _power_ ,” Loki drawled, “you are little.”

“Yeah well at least have the courtesy not to say it, jackass,” Darcy grumbled and Loki laughed aloud then.

“You have a lot of fire, don’t you, little mortal?”  Darcy’s scowl deepened but this time she clamped her mouth shut as Loki continued. “You are in the presence of someone who could snap your neck without taking so much as a step towards you, who reduced your precious city to fire and death and yet you dare to answer back.”

This time Darcy couldn’t keep her mouth shut. “I don’t owe you anything. Least of all respect. You’re just a mass murderer.” _A mass murderer with reeeeallly good hair. Shut up Darcy._

This time Loki’s laughter bounced off the cell walls. “And you honestly think your people are any better?” he asked as he took a seat in the golden chair, crossing his leg over the other with a casual elegance that irritated Darcy even more. “Your people have had more wars than Asgard has had kings.” He began to smirk. “I’ve never known such a bloodthirsty planet.” He chuckled softly. “Believe me I was doing your world a favour. Uniting under one ruler is the best thing for Midgard.”

“Depends on the ruler,” Darcy retorted. “Do you really think that anyone’s going to follow a leader who causes such bloodshed?”

“It is the price of peace.”

“Said every dictator who ever existed,” Darcy scoffed. “Peace can be achieved without killing. Some people just don’t get that”

“That’s hardly the reason. You people aren’t capable of making those decisions yourself,” Loki mused from his chair.

“Just because you’ve decided that, doesn’t make it true?”

Loki’s smirk deepened though he didn’t reply at first. Darcy moved away from him, breathing heavily. She looked outwards, through the glowing cell wall. Across from her, gigantic, rectangular cells, of the same white decor, were built into thick, dark brown stone. The cells opposite were occupied by groups of angry, armoured groups.

“Marauders,” Loki told her. “They’ve been devastating the Nine Realms for a while. Killing and pillaging without mercy. The kind of behaviour I could have stopped before it even began, had I been Asgard’s heir.”

“So it all comes down to jealousy, huh?” Darcy returned her attention to Loki. He merely chuckled briefly.

“I am far beyond jealousy now, mortal. Odin has made his choice. My ambitions ran beyond Asgard.”

“To Earth?”

“Yes,” Loki’s smile was just as unnerving. “Your people need governance. You have people starving in one continent and sitting in avarice and gluttony on another. You breed prejudice like it’s in fashion and you meddle in things that you shouldn’t.” Darcy pressed her lips together, reluctantly impressed by his statement. Loki continued regardless. “I could have solved those problems.”

“You were prepared to sacrifice thousands of lives to do it,” Darcy spat.

“A price that I was willing to pay.”

“But we didn’t deserve to! It’s not you who’s paying it.”

“It would have been my burden to bear. I could have brought peace to your realm and carried the price of earning it on my shoulders.”

“You would have ruled us in tyranny,” Darcy muttered as she leaned back against a wall. “You make all these promises but you would have made us all slaves to your rule.” She jabbed a finger at him. “I saw the footage of your arrival. You said that freedom was life’s great lie.”

Loki actually frowned. “For someone who studies the intricacies of political science, you have a very narrow view of people’s motives.”

“That’s because all dictators are the same, essentially,” Darcy fired back. “And get out of my head.”

Loki ignored it. “Their _patterns of behaviour_ are all the same,” he corrected. “And I consider myself far superior to your greedy-power driven dictators.” He rose from his seat. “However much you wouldn’t approve on how I accomplished things, I would have united Midgard. I would have _cleansed_ the liars and killers from your race.”

“Hypocritical much?” Darcy raised an eyebrow.

“Perhaps that is the price of a fair ruler,” Loki countered. “The ruler must get his hands dirty in order to provide a better leadership.”

“I call bullshit.”

Loki snorted. “Of course you would. Midgardians are far too ignorant to recognise when something is good for them.” He ignored Darcy’s scowl. “Your pointless wars… poverty…. How much lower will you let yourselves sink before someone far more dangerous than me tries to invade?” There was a shadow in his face for a moment but it disappeared almost as soon as Darcy had noticed it.

“Like who?” Darcy demanded.

“Like those who are far beyond your comprehension, little mortal.”

“I’m getting real tired of that ‘little mortal’ shit-”

“And what are you going to do about it?” Loki sneered. “As I said before I could end your life in many different ways if I wanted to.”

Darcy folded her arms with as much defiance as she could muster. “Yeah, yeah, you said that before…” Unfortunately she couldn’t keep the quake from her voice especially as she watched a smirk creep its way back over Loki’s features.

He moved towards the flickering golden barrier with the elegance of a cat. “I could throw you against this without even lifting a finger,” he told her, not taking his eyes off the barrier. “Imagine the agony your little body would be in as it fried into oblivion.”

Darcy’s chest constricted as she watched him, her heart began to pound within her ribcage. She could picture the scene clearly in her mind with little imagination required: the sounds of her own screams echoing in the back of her mind, Loki’s growing triumph imprinting on the backs of her eyes and the thought of the agony coursing through her, burning in her head. She shook herself and Loki seemed pleased.

“Or perhaps,” he continued in a tone as pleasant as if he were attending a dinner party, “I could hold you against it slowly, watch it tear away at you until you beg for me to end it, beg for me to snap your fragile human neck.”  Chills shot down Darcy’s spine and she leaned a little more against the wall, tucking her arms tighter against herself as Loki finally turned from the wall and looked at her. “Maybe I should turn your blood to fire. It’s a simple enough spell,” he declared, grinning as he took in Darcy’s growing discomfort. “Turn your blood to stone and watch you die in the stiffest way possible,” he added. He began to walk up to her. “I haven’t shapeshifted in a while. Perhaps I should transform myself and maul you to death.”

Nausea climbed up Darcy’s throat, picking up speed with each suggestion that poured from Loki’s silken tone.

“There’s so much choice; so many colourful ways I could put an end to your miserable human existence,” he finished as he stopped about two feet from her.

Darcy instantly jerked away from him, swallowing down her nausea and the sudden movement pumping adrenaline through her frozen nerves. “But you won’t,” she spoke without thinking. “Because you know the consequences.”

Loki laughed. “I am already imprisoned for eternity. There is not much more they can add to that.”

“Do you think?” Darcy countered. “You got off pretty lightly considering what you did. But if Thor knows what you did to me, you won’t get away with it.”

Loki barely even bat an eyelid. “Who says Thor would know anything?”

“T-that dude…. The watchman…. H-Heimdall does!” Darcy stammered. “A-and if you k-kill me then… then he’ll know, won’t he? And then he’ll tell Thor and the King.”

The laugh that erupted from Loki’s mouth as he stepped backwards, was hard and cruel. “Do you really think the Allfather cares for you mortals?”

“He’s supposed to be our protector isn’t he?” Darcy fired back. “How sucky would it look if I were to die in the cell of his prisoner? That he let that happen, let that happen to someone from a race he’s supposed to protect?”

“You’re one human. Hardly a catastrophe.”

She snorted. “Still. Hardly good PR is it? Especially considering Thor in this.”

Loki watched her, an expression of bemusement clouding over his face. Slowly he began to smile. “So there’s some intelligence there after all,” he told her, folding his arms and walking away from her. “How promising.”

“Patronize me all you want,” Darcy told him. “But we both know there’s more trouble for you if you do anything to me.”

“You’re not wrong,” Loki told her as he wandered back towards his table and chair. He bent to pick up a bottle of wine that had stood behind his chair and a goblet. Placing both on the table, he waved a hand over the goblet. Shimmering gold flickered in the space next to it and suddenly there was another goblet there. Darcy jumped a little on seeing it. So he did have magic. Those threats were certainly real enough then.  “And if I had been planning to kill you it would have put a stopper in my plans.”

Darcy’s eyebrows creased together so tightly, it was a little painful. “That’s your story now? Making out like you were never going to kill me.”

Loki laughed as he poured the wine into two glasses, leaving Darcy wondering if one of them was laced with something after all. “Believe what you want. I’m sure if you ask Thor, he will tell you all about how much I love a good mind game. It’s far more entertaining to make someone _believe_ that you’re going to kill them. I’m not a barbarian like Thor and his friends. I don’t need to kill someone to prove my power.”

“But it’s never stopped you before,” Darcy countered.

He laughed shortly. “No,” he agreed. “It hasn’t. My reasons are my own,” he told her as he picked up both goblets. He offered one to her. “It seems like you are going to be here a while, Miss Lewis, why not have a drink?”

“Because I don’t drink poison thanks,” Darcy held up a hand in refusal.

“I’m hardly going to kill you, Miss Lewis. This is the longest conversation I’ve had in over a year. I’d much rather take advantage of that than have your Midgardian blood stain the cell.”

Darcy scowled at him. “Do I look stupid? This is pretty much what all villains say before they kill someone.”

Loki’s chuckle was quiet this time. “I’m not one of your stereotypes,” he told her. “It is simply a drink,” he brought his own glass to his lips and sipped from it.

“That doesn’t mean anything. You could have laced it with something that’s poisonous to me but not to you.”

“I could have,” Loki agreed. “If I had access to my old ingredients. However fortunately for you, they have been destroyed. I have only access to books from my quarters and food and drink from the kitchens. So unless there is a murderer among our cooks, I would think this wine safe.”

Darcy pursed her lips again and eyed the wine for a long moment before accepting the goblet Loki floated to her. If she was going to be in here a while with this psychopath then she definitely needed a drink.

 


	3. Drinks with the Psychopath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy and Loki bicker over their circumstances as Loki tries to delve into what makes his unwilling cellmate tick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so late guys!
> 
> I had so much trouble with this chapter. I kept stalling. But now it's well and truly back on track. My earlier plan to have just four chaps revolving around the Darcy taken to the dungeon thing has now expanded into another chapter haha. 
> 
> Oh and on another note, this fic is set in 2016 rather than 2013 :)

“So, if you’re all insanely smart and stuff,” Darcy wondered aloud as Loki floated the goblet over to her. A wise decision, she may be drinking with the guy but she didn’t want him anywhere near her. She clasped it in her hands carefully. “Can you tell me how the heck I got here? I’m no expert of any of this space stuff but I’m pretty sure popping from one world to another is pretty strange.”

Loki sipped from his own drink. “You’ve been caught up in the Convergence, if my timing is right. Which it usually is.”

Darcy scowled at his arrogance. “Yes yes pat yourself on the back, there’s a good psycho.” To her annoyance, he looked amused at the name. She ignored it and glanced towards the wall she’d come from. “So what’s this Convergence when it’s at home?”

He gave her a strange look. “The Convergence does not have a home.”

Darcy flushed. “It’s a figure of speech.”

“How strange,” Loki declared before drinking from his goblet again. “The Convergence is the alignment of the Nine Realms,” he told her. “For Midgardians you’d call it the planetary alignment of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Pluto.”

“According to our scientists, Pluto is no longer counted-”

“Disregarding a planet because it’s smaller than the others is hardly an intelligent action considering the sizes of the planets are all different.”

Darcy raised both eyebrows. “That’s pretty much what I said,” she mused, surprised that she was even capable of agreeing with Loki. Or maybe he was just reading her mind and deliberately quoting her. Scowling to herself at the thought of it, she finally took a sip of the wine.

It was like a flood of taste sensations hitting her lips; she could immediately taste raspberries, blueberries and strawberries along with the slight sourness of cherries. But alongside them all was another flavour, something unfamiliar, full of sweetness and dry-ness all at once. The concoction was wonderful, like a party in her throat. Tastebuds exploded with delight through all of Darcy’s mouth. She hummed in approval without meaning to.

Loki smiled. “I assume the wine is to your satisfaction?”

Darcy smiled back. “This is heaven…” she replied before remembering who she was drinking with. “I mean, it’s the only thing to my satisfaction here.” She corrected herself. _Quick,_ she told herself, _change the subject before his ego explodes or whatever gods_ _’ egos do._ “Anyway,” she added hastily, “you were saying?”

He merely smirked. “When the worlds begin to align, gaps between our worlds appear as they do so. These gaps are usually random and they don’t always stay in the same place.”

Darcy’s heart plummeted and she lowered her goblet, remembering that the gap which had brought her here, had disappeared quickly. “Do they ever come back?”

Loki shrugged. “Perhaps, it’s all very random. Things change throughout the days before the Convergence. The gaps will remain during the eight minutes of Convergence. For those moments, they will most likely be locked in place. As soon as the worlds move out of alignment, the gaps will disappear.”

She stared at him. “So the build up to the Convergence takes days but the alignment only lasts minutes?”

“Yes,” Loki sipped his drink.

“That’s kind of messed up.”

“Well that’s the universe.”

Darcy sipped from the goblet again and blinked down in astonishment. It was half empty already. She lowered it again and glanced towards the exit of the cell. “How often do the guards come round?” she asked.

Loki smiled as he answered. “A couple of hours, sometimes longer.”  When Darcy scowled at him, he chuckled. “I have to get my amusement from somewhere.” He crossed one long leg over the other. 

“Glad to know I get to be your plaything for the next few hours.”

Loki’s smile deepened and his eyes darkened. “Only if you want to.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

“Oh but I’m sure it would be a lot more fun than waiting for the guards.” Loki purred. His green eyes appraised her up and down.

She turned away from him. “You must think I’m crazy.”

“I think you’re adventurous.”

“Not that adventurous, buddy.”

“So we are buddies now? That escalated quickly. How promising.”

Darcy scowled. “You know what I mean, asshat? And get out of my head.”

“If I’m staying out of your head then how can I know what you mean?” he countered, making her flush.

“Just keep your invasive shit away from me.”

“Technically,” Loki drawled between sips of his wine. “You walked into my cell.”

Darcy’s cheeks became inflamed. “Not on purpose.”

“Shame. Boldness such as that should be admired.”

“Seriously?” Darcy raised both eyebrows. “You call it boldness, I’d call it suicide.”

Loki’s upper lip curled into a sneer as he spoke. “Perhaps for your kind it would be. It doesn’t take much to snuff out your lights.”

Darcy snapped to her feet, whirling to face her cellmate of sorts. The remaining wine in her drink sloshed noisily against the goblet, spilling some droplets onto the bedsheets below her. Loki said nothing about the inevitable stain that would appear. “Yes well,” Darcy growled as she addressed him, “you _would_ know that,” she spat at him. “After everything you did.”

To her fury, Loki wasn’t even looking at her. Instead he was flicking through the pages of one of his books, sipping from his drink. It was as though he was choosing not to heed Darcy at all. He licked the tip of his finger and flickered another page, his green eyes scanning the page with interest. Darcy’s stomach crackled with annoyance.

“Being an asshole about it doesn’t change that fact,” she snapped at him. After a pause of many seconds, he finally turned his head towards her as though he’d forgotten she’d been stood there.

“I apologise, I was simply bored of your repetitive conversation,” he waved a free hand in her direction. “I terrorised New York, I’m a monster, I am a merciless, psychopathic killer…” he trailed off. “Your thoughts are getting mundane now,” he finished with a frown.

“If you don’t like what I’m thinking,” Darcy spoke as her grip tightened on the goblet, “then don’t fucking read my mind”. She seriously considered throwing it towards his head. She’d probably miss but it’d feel damn good. However her gaze shifted to the wine. What a waste that would be. And alcohol might just be the only thing that would truly get her through this awful scenario.

 _But if you hit him hard enough_ _…_

Darcy’s eyes flickered over Loki’s face. His attention had returned to the book but she could see a smirk creeping over his lips. _The bastard_ _’s reading my mind._

“You could try and hit me. Whether you hit your target or not, it wouldn’t do you any good. And I would stir long before a guard could save you.”

His words chilled her and for a moment, her shins shook. Uneasily she sat back down, taking a sip out of her goblet. Clutching the golden cup in both hands, Darcy closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. She tightened her grip, the goblet becoming an anchor for her vortex of frantic thoughts.

“And there was me thinking we’d already pointed out what a bad idea killing me would be.”

“Who said anything about killing you?” Loki murmured.

There was an edge to his voice that unsettled Darcy’s insides. She rolled her eyes and drained the goblet. “You know you’re not the only one who’s bored of this,” she snapped back at him. “These threats about all the ways you could hurt me. I’m done with them,” she added fiercely.

She rose from the bed, dropping the goblet onto the emerald coverlet and crossed the room to stand in front of his chair. Her pulse quickened as she met his green eyes with her blue ones. Loki put the book aside, never dropping his attention from Darcy. A small smile was pricking the corners of his mouth as he watched her. As she stopped before him, his eyes lazily rove up and down her body.

“You say you could hurt me.” Darcy spoke, her voice a rough growl. “That you’d enjoy doing it? Go ahead. Get it out your system,” she continued. “Because causing pain is clearly the only thing a sicko like you can understand.”

Loki’s face remained composed for a second. But then he tilted his head back and laughed. It wasn’t a pleasant laugh; it was full of bitterness and wicked chill, humourless and it sent prickles of anxiety rippling through Darcy’s nerves. It was like she was feeling the monstrosity radiating of him in all its darkness and yet it didn’t manifest in full force over his features. The contradiction was unnerving. The laugh itself lasted mere seconds but Darcy never wanted to hear the sound again.

When Loki returned his gaze to her, his eyes were as cold as glass, his gaze intense and trained on her face. The smoothness of his face before was replaced by flinty angles and shadowed cheekbones. “You think you know pain, Midgardian?” he asked in a low voice. There was no softness to it. It was a ragged tone, just as ready to snap at her as it was to cut into her. “Your kind know only the trifles of it. If I wanted to cause you real pain, your weak little mortal body wouldn’t survive. So don’t make a pretence at bravery by volunteering for what you only think you understand.”

 Darcy shivered; anger and fear intermingling as she gazed down at Loki. The guy was freakin’ terrifying right now and Darcy’s feet felt as though they had become one with the ground. So all she could do was try and hold the god’s gaze. Inhaling deeply, she wet her lips and summoned her courage.

“I don’t believe in gods. I never have.” Darcy spoke with a voice that shook as her body did. “I never believed Thor was a god. Just a hottie with a superiority complex, at least until he mellowed out” she admitted. “But you… you’re the one with the superiority complex, aren’t you?” She could feel the bravery gathering in her chest like molten magma, slowly building and rising. “It’s always been you who’s played the ‘god’ role. Invading us, belittling our pain…” Darcy laughed, humourlessly, without even thinking about it. “But you can’t rule what you don’t understand. No one can. A true leader understands their people.”

“Who says I have any interest in ruling your insignificant little race?” Loki purred, ice in his silky tone.

“You don’t anymore. So you resort to mind games and insults.” Darcy began to smile. “They are the actions of a retreating bully.” She could feel her chest loosening as she spoke, like the fear that had gathered there was finally being released. “So you can pretend you’re just being magnanimous by not doing any of these things to me. But the truth is, you know that… what would be the point if you did?” she finished. The loosening sensation spread to her legs and she stepped away from him carefully.

Loki watched her silently and Darcy held his gaze, despite the fact that the guy was probably having a good root around in her head. But there was no point in asking him to stop. This was obviously someone for whom rules were a foreign language and therefore irrelevant.

“Well now that’s not true,” Loki answered in a quiet voice. Darcy grit her teeth behind her closed lips and rolled her eyes but said nothing. Amusement danced in Loki’s eyes as he watched her.  “Why do you hide it?” he asked.

Darcy blinked, her jaw slackening. “Hide what?”

“How clever you are.”

She folded her arms. “I don’t hide anything.”

“Yes you do. All the time.”

“Or maybe I’m just not that clever?” Darcy shrugged.

“You and I both know that’s not true.”

“Well… whatever,” Darcy shrugged looking away. “Why don’t you just read my mind like you have been doing?”

Loki continued to smile. “That’s a little like reading a very extensive book summary, isn’t it? You don’t get all the facts.”

“Why do you even care?” Darcy asked him. When Loki said nothing, she rolled her eyes and exhaled. “Seriously? Why do you get to ask all the questions and yet give me no answers? That’s bullshit.”

Loki looked contemplative. “Why would you want to know anything about me? You’ve already decided I’m a monster.”

“Well, it’s freakin’ fair, that way, isn’t it?” Darcy countered, making his smile deepen. Again he fell silent but just for a moment.

“Very well, if you insist. I will answer any of your questions on the proviso that you answer mine.”

Darcy edged back over to the bed and sat down, picking up the goblet, her fingers seeking out something to grip.

With a wave of his hand, Loki filled both goblets. At her questioning glance, he smiled. “I suspect you’re going to want a drink if you’re going to ask about me.”

Darcy arched an eyebrow but made no protest. It meant more of this delicious wine so hell no was she going to turn _that_ down. Especially if she was going to hear things she might wish she hadn’t asked about. However it wouldn’t stop her asking. How many others would get a chance like this? If it passed the time then she was all for it.

Loki took a long sip of his drink before placing it back on the table and meeting her gaze with his again. “Ladies first.”

“How do I know you’re going to answer truthfully?”

Loki chortled. “And you deny that you’re clever…” he mused. “There’s no benefit for me to lie here. And believe me, benefit is everything.”

“Unless you’re lying about that,” Darcy pointed out. This time Loki laughed aloud.

“True enough. I suppose whether or not you believe me, is up to you.”

Darcy glanced down into her drink and pursed her lips. “I guess it’ll depend what I hear.” She sipped again and tilted her head back in thought. “Why did you attack Earth, if you’re not even bothered about it now?”

“I get bored easily,” Loki shrugged with a small chuckle. He shook his head. “I came to your little world because that was my order.”

“Your order? You were the instigator.”

“That’s what it looked like to you humans. I answered to a higher power.”

“What higher power?” Darcy asked despite knowing that she’d already asked a few questions. Still Loki didn’t seem particularly phased.

“You wouldn’t know of him but he knows of you. That is all I will say.” Loki told her, his face becoming serious. He swirled the wine in his glass. “My turn,” he declared. “Why do you hide your intelligence?” he repeated his earlier question. “I’ve seen it in your mind, I’ve heard it from your lips. You very aptly saw through my threats. That’s not something just anyone can do.”

Darcy’s grip on her cup tightened and she stared down into the plum-coloured liquid. She exhaled softly and took another sip. Of course he would go for the highly personal question. And yet fair was fair. It’d make her a hypocrite if she lied now.

“I don’t hide it,” Darcy murmured, raising her head and looking sideways. “I just don’t really need it for my job. I’m hardly dealing with rocket scientist.” _No, that_ _’s more Jane’s department._ “So-”

“You’re an intern for Jane Foster,” Loki remarked. “Thor’s woman.”

Darcy raised a finger. “Hey!” she snapped. “Jane is _not_ Thor’s woman. Not yet. He has a lot of making up to do. He said he’d come back for her and he didn’t for _two_ frickin years. He’s going to have to earn his brownie points back if he wants to be Jane’s man.”

Loki looked highly amused by that. “I like your spirit. Clearly you set high standards for men.”

“It’s classic code. If a guy jerks you around, you make him wait,” Darcy pointed out. “That’s how you weed out the keepers from the losers.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Loki told her. There seemed to be a mixture of humour and sincerity in his tone but Darcy couldn’t be totally sure that he wasn’t making the latter up. “Especially when it comes to men.”

Darcy swigged from her goblet. “That sounds like someone who’s been stung.”

Loki laughed once. “You expect to get to my age and not be stung?”

Darcy bit down on a smile. “How old are you exactly?”

“By your reckoning? One thousand and fifty.”

Her jaw dropped. “For real?! So you are immortal.”

Loki raised a hand. “No. Do not mistake long life for immortality. Even Asgardians have their time. It may take a few milenia but it’s there.”

Darcy sat there blinking and processing this. So he was over a thousand years old and he was Thor’s brother so then that made Thor…

“Thor is a few years older than I,” Loki explained. Darcy barely bothered to scowl.

“Do you have to?”

“It saves time.”

Damn him, he had a point.

“And he’s not my brother.” Loki finished.

“But Thor said.”

“He was mistaken. As was I. I have since discovered the truth.”

“What truth?”

“You have asked more than your share of questions, Darcy. It is my turn again,” Loki reminded her. She scowled again but said nothing. He tilted his head and watched her. “Why do you let yourself get exploited? Working for free for a woman who claims to be your friend? It sounds to me like you’re being used.”

Darcy’s scowl deepened. “I am _not_ being exploited. That’s how internships work. It’s work experience.”

“And how are you supposed to support yourself?”

“I’m staying with Jane and she pays for everything.”

“That hardly covers the hours you put into working for her. It sounds like this Jane is just taking advantage.”

“She’s not taking advantage!” Darcy insisted, her voice growing steadily more irritated. “She’s great to work for and she’s a real friend too-”

“A real friend would find some way to pay for someone who’s working for free.”

“I just told you,” Darcy huffed. “She pays for everything.”

“What and you’re supposed to just be grateful for the basics?” Loki raised both eyebrows. “I wouldn’t stand for that, if it was me in that predicament.”

“Yeah well from the sounds of it, you wouldn’t stand for anything that’s not getting you your own way,” Darcy mumbled over the rim of her goblet.

Loki suddenly planted his goblet down on the table with a force that reverberated slightly about the room. Darcy froze, goblet half tilted towards her own lips. Had she pushed him too far? She watched as he rose from his seat and moved over to the bed. She began to scoot away from him, making him smile only half-humorously.

“You are mixing me up with Thor,” he told her. “I’d rather you didn’t do that.”

“Why do you hate him so much?” Darcy countered. 

“There is a difference between hatred and resentment. I do not hate Thor, oaf such as he is.” Loki told her. “But you only met the Thor who changed. If you had known him pre-banishment, you may not be speaking so highly of him.”

 “At least he didn’t try and take over an entire planet,” Darcy reminded him.

 "True enough,” Loki was smiling and it unnerved Darcy. Why the heck was he smiling? “But he did invade another realm for revenge.” He turned away from her with a smirk. “Of course I did stir him up but he would have gone regardless if he’d had the wits enough to have the idea first.”

 "So whatever he did was down to you.”

 “If you want to think of it like that yes. I let the Frost Giants in to ruin the coronation, preventing him from being crowned King of Asgard and I spurred him on to take revenge.”

 Darcy shuffled further away. “You really are a manipulative bastard.”

 “Literally,” Loki smirked. “But when it came to the coronation, I did the right thing.”

 “You tell yourself that-”

“Thor wasn’t ready to become King. I had accepted that Odin had chosen him, the favourite, the eldest son. Many traditions would dictate that Thor should become King. I have no quarrel with those traditions.”

 “But you didn’t want him to become King.”

 “ _Then,_ ” Loki corrected her. “He wasn’t ready to become King _then_ with the way he was. He was hot tempered, arrogant, entitled and boarish. A King should be considerate as well as brave, thoughtful as well as strong. Thor did not understand that.”

 “But you did,” Darcy answered dubiously.

 “If Thor had advocated those things, I would have served as an advisor. The throne was never what I wanted,” Loki told her. “What I wanted was to be Thor’s equal in Odin’s eyes. But that was never going to happen.”

 “So you put people at risk to stop the coronation and let Thor go to that Frost Giant place.”

 “Collateral damage.”

 Darcy pulled a face and stood up. “You’re despicable,” she said as she moved away.

 “Perhaps.” Loki shrugged. “But I _was_ doing the people of Asgard a favour. I’m sure you saw what he was like during his banishment. Would you trust that to rule over a kingdom?”

Darcy pursed her lips and drank from the goblet. “I don’t know. But I wouldn’t have done what you did.”

“Of course not. You’re not me and I’m not you. So let’s stop pretending everyone has to share the same philosophy here.”

“At least Thor changed for the better. What did you go on to do?” Darcy challenged him. “You tried to subjugate our realm.”

Loki wafted his hand towards his mouth in a fake yawn. “Yes, yes, I am the big bad wolf. Did I not tell you that I was under orders.”

“You could have said-”

“-No?” Loki suggested. “You don’t say no to who I was working for. Let’s leave it at that.”

Darcy opened her mouth to ask again but she could see that Loki was looking away, clearly no longer interested in continuing that line of discussion. She sipped from her drink again and moved to lean against the wall.  “Can I just ask one more thing before you continue?” she asked after a moment.

“That rather depends what it’s about,” Loki murmured. He’d summoned his goblet into his hand and was taking long swigs from it.

“About what you said… Thor not being your brother.”

“That was a nice little nugget of truth I found out after our trip to Jotunheim,” he explained. “Home of the Frost Giants,” he added. “Let’s just say an encounter got me suspicious and Odin was forced to confirm it later. I am not his son by blood. In fact,” he continued with a harsh laugh. “I am the son of his enemy, King of the Jotunns. A sick joke if ever there was one.”

“Why would he take the child of his enemy?” Darcy frowned, forgetting about her question limit.

“That was precisely my question. He gave some waffle about me being an innocent child. But it didn’t take long to coax the truth out. He hoped to use me to supplant Laufey and his other kin one day. Have a puppet on the throne of Jotunheim. One that was-”

“-raised in Asgard,” Darcy finished as the truth dawned on her. “A Frost Giant King with sympathies and loyalty to Asgard.” She shivered and clutched her goblet tighter as she thought about it. It was a manipulative thing to have in mind when raising a child but surely if Odin hadn’t cared for the baby, he could have had the child raised elsewhere.

Loki laughed sourly. “For someone so intelligent, you’re almost unbearably naive.” He looked back at her. “Odin made his preferences between his ‘sons’ perfectly clear. It explains why I was never a true contender for his heir. He always saw me as Laufey’s son.”

“You don’t know that,” Darcy told him.

“And you don’t know what went on here.”

“No,” Darcy snapped, losing her patience. “I don’t. Because unlike you, I don’t have invasive mind-reading powers.”

“No,” Loki agreed quietly. “My apologies.” Darcy rolled her eyes and it seemed to increase his humour. He smirked callously. “I don’t recommend being lied to for over a milenia. It’s not fun. There was plenty of time to tell me the truth.”

“Some parents don’t tell their adopted children the truth, because as far as they’re concerned, their kids are their kids, you know.” Darcy spoke between sips of her wine. “Being adopted isn’t necessarily a travesty. It all depends on-”

“-the type of home the kids go to,” Loki finished for her. “I know where you’re going with this. But do you honestly believe that that level of deception and manipulation continued for so long is appropriate? Would you do that to your own child?”

“Well no,” Darcy began, “I wouldn’t use-”

“ _Exactly!_ ” Loki hissed. “What Odin did was using a child he claimed to care about.”

“It’s fucked up, I know,” Darcy told him. “And no, it doesn’t sound like he’d win parent of the year for it but… can’t you try and move on from that? You’re not saint.”

“As you constantly like to remind me.”

Darcy huffed and moved back to the bed, sitting down again. “I’m no saint either. No one is.”

They spent the next ten minutes in silence; the ghosts of the conversation fading away into it like it had all been a dream. In a way, Darcy would have wanted it to be a dream. But in another, she could understand Loki a bit more. Or at least what had driven him for some of his crimes. But nothing he’d gone through could justify what he’d gone on to to. There was something called self control and Loki had shown none of either. But at least, she could see that he didn’t do anything without good reason. So maybe she was safe.

She finished her drink at the same time as him and he refilled their glasses before turning to her.

“I believe it’s my turn again.”

“Go ahead,” Darcy shrugged. “I can’t think what you’d want to ask. My life’s pretty boring.”

“You studied Political Science,” Loki noted. “Why are you an intern for an Astrophysicist?”

Darcy smiled despite herself. Mind-reading aside, it was such an ordinary question. She shrugged.  “I like working with Jane so… after I finished college, I just ended up doing that.”

“But that’s not what you planned to do?”

“I was going to intern for the Mayor or something,” Darcy admitted.

Loki gazed at her intently but this time there was no taunt or malice in his face. “Are you sure this Jane is truly your friend? Wouldn’t she want you to follow your degree?”

“I can leave Jane anytime I want,” Darcy insisted. “She knows that.”

“But you don’t want to? Maybe you’re not interested in Political Science after all…” Loki trailed off with a smile playing on his lips.

“Nice try,” Darcy retorted, nudging him with her elbow. “Reverse psychology won’t work. For now I’m happy with where I am.”

“Well that makes one of us.” Loki replied, turning away and drinking from the goblet. “And you don’t need to say it was my own doing.”

“I’m just as sick of this conversation as you are, believe me.” Darcy muttered in agreement. “Now if you had any Asgardian drinking games, that’d be different.”

Loki turned to her curiously. “Drinking games?”

Darcy blinked at him. “You don’t have drinking games? I think we’re gonna need more alcohol…”


	4. Drinking Games of Doom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy and Loki play drinking games and learn a little more about each other

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was such a pain in the ass to write but I'm happy with it. Now I'm past it, the next chapters should be easier.

As she watched Loki conjure up two more bottles of wine, Darcy wanted to ask where he got it from. Was he stealing from the kitchens or from someone’s house? However she was pretty sick of the Q&A from earlier and so was he probably so she decided she’d let this one slide. Instead, she crawled further onto the bed and crossed her legs. The sturdiest position she could manage considering she was drinking far more potent alcohol and potentially would now be about to down a whole load of it.

And yet there was a bubble of excitement dancing away in her stomach. It wasn’t how she’d expected the day to go but it was finally hitting her that she was actually in Asgard, drinking their fancy wine. Even if it was all within the restraints of a jail cell.

 _Oh well, I always wondered if I_ _’d end up drunk and in jail for a night._

“You Midgardians have some strange ambitions,” Loki remarked as he sat down on the bed next to her, waving his hand to fill up their goblets.

Already Darcy could feel a pleasant haze over her thoughts, stripping the edges, the problems away from the scenario. She didn’t even feel the need to call Loki out on his assholic mind reading again It was quite clean in this cell, she thought. Light and pleasant. Not too bad for being stuck in. At least for now anyway.

“So how does this game work?” Loki’s voice interrupted her thoughts and she refocused her gaze on him.

“One of us names something they’ve never done. So they say ‘I have never done…’ whatever and then if the other person’s done it, they take a drink.”

Loki began to smirk. “Intriguing. I suppose I shall be drinking a lot then. There is very little that I have not done.”

Darcy smirked back at him. “That’s what I’m counting on finding out. Why don’t you start us off?”

“Very well,” Loki pursed his lips. “And I have to be truthful?”

“Well if you’re not, you’ll spoil the game.” Darcy pointed out. “If you say you’ve never done something that you have, you’ll still have to drink.” She tilted her head. “And I kind wanna know what things you _haven_ _’t_ done rather than what you have.”

Loki chuckled. “I have never…lost at chess.”

Darcy scowled and took a swig of her drink. “Of course not. You’re probably one of those fancy super strategists,” she grumbled before wiping her mouth. “Ok,” she continued. “I have never smashed a cup just to order another.”

Loki’s smile deepened. “Thor?”

She nodded. “Gave like half the diner a freakin fright.” Loki shook his head but drank. Darcy raised both eyebrows. “You?” she blinked as she spoke.

“Why not me?”

“I don’t know. You seem less… oafish than that.”

“Oh I assure you, mine has a bit more flair,” Loki grinned. Placing the goblet in one hand, he used the other to do a brief yet graceful flick of his wrist as though he was throwing something over his shoulder. Darcy giggled despite herself, covering her mouth to conceal the little snort that came with it.

“So the poor cup isn’t worthy of your notice.” She commented, amused.

Loki smirked but this time it was different, less intense… more playful. It was an expression that suited him. His emerald eyes sparkled with fun. He clasped his drink in both hands and pursed his lips in thought. “I have never been thrown from a horse.”

Darcy was astonished. “Wait… you’re telling me you’re one thousand and fifty and you’ve never been thrown from a horse?”

“Not once. I’m rather good with animals.”

Darcy didn’t respond but she did sip her drink. “Broke my frickin’ leg doing it too.” She muttered before speaking again. “I have never been married.” Loki didn’t drink and Darcy frowned. “Oh come on, you’ve got to be lying now.”

“Why must I?” Loki grinned.

“You can’t have gone over a milenia without someone putting a ring on it!”

He shrugged. “That’s exactly what I did.”

“But you’re gorgeous!” Darcy countered without thinking, her mind already becoming a delicious, gentle fog of inhibition. Wouldn’t it be great to just say whatever she wanted? Social niceties kind of went out the window when you were in prison. And she had so much she wanted to say to him… Or do to him. Her eyes roamed over him, drinking him in and liking what she saw.

His hair was so jet black and long, she could imagine running her fingers through it. Over and over, feeling that lovely texture against her skin. She sighed as she looked over him. He was ridiculously attractive in a different way to Thor. The blonde brother had the body builder six pack and the biceps. But Loki’s allure was of a thinner, much more toned form. Less about his body though Darcy had no complaints on that score, even without seeing him naked, and more about his colours; those dark looks, the emerald eyes that stood out against his white skin and there there were those cheekbones… god dammit. 

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she giggled. “Oops.” She faltered for a moment, her eyes darting from him to her drink several times before she shrugged her shoulders once and took another swig of her drink. “Oh what the hell. It’s true.”

“I’m flattered you think so,” Loki told her, crossing one leg over the other. “Always nice to be appreciated.”

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t be an ass about it. Anyway, your turn, hot stuff.”

“I have never skipped lessons,” Loki’s voice was silky and Darcy shot him a glare.

“Fuck you.”

“Oh well that would be my pleasure,” Loki’s voice was honeyed. Deliciously honey. The kind of honey she could listen to while running her hands all over his- Oh how it would be _her_ pleasure. _No,_ Darcy told herself as she felt something in her lower stomach begin to tingle in awakening. _No, no, no_ _…_ she continued to tell herself. _Bad Darcy, bad._

She sipped from the goblet again. The berry flavours rushed through her head, along with the alcohol. She closed her eyes and sighed at the pleasurable rush it gave her. “I have never sent a killer robot down to New Mexico.”

It was Loki’s turn to scowl. “Low blow, mortal.” He drank though. “I have never carried a taser.”

Darcy chugged more of the wine. “I have never been a Prince.” Loki’s eye roll as he drank made her snort.

“I have never contained all my music in one of those daft little metal boxes.”

“Hey!” Darcy objected. “Don’t diss the ‘pod.” She swigged again. “I have never had an oaf for a brother.”

Loki smirked all the way through his sip. “I thought you said he was your friend.”

“Hey, I say it with love,” Darcy shrugged.

“I wonder what he would say about you,” Loki pondered.

“He’s a sweetheart,” Darcy pointed out. “But he’d call me strange. And that’s cool. I’m ok with strange.”

“You’re getting no arguments from me on that score,” Loki told her. She elbowed him hard. He laughed once before pursing his lips. “My turn again, I see. I have never worked for free.” He smirked as she drank.

“I have… have… I have never had children,” Darcy plucked the question out of the vortex of alcohol that was swimming through her mind, tinting everything into a rosy glimmer and making it harder to speak now. She eyed Loki eagerly. Never having been married didn’t prevent him from having kids and she wanted to know if that whole horse thing was true. In answer, Loki hesitated and Darcy briefly sobered a little as he raised his goblet to his lips. Was he a father? However he grinned instead and laughed, lowering the goblet again.

“You tease…” she scowled at him. “You tease. Or you’re lying,” she pointed at him. Or at least she thought she was. Loki was laughing at her though so maybe she wasn’t. He was reaching for her finger and she pulled her hand away obstinately. “Stop it,” she batted at his hand. “Stop it!” she told him again, jerking backwards with both hands.

A splash of plum hit her in the chest, soaking into her top as the smell of the heavily berried wine hit her nostrils. It took Darcy a moment to look at herself and really appreciate what had happened.

“Awww man, look what you did.”

“I think you’ll find that I did nothing,” Loki was grinning as he watched Darcy dab at herself.  “For a mortal, you make marvellous entertainment.”

“Don’t you pull that racist ‘I’m a Sassgardian and better than you’ shit on me, you mega-megalolo- megalomaniac Viking!” she declared, waving her finger in his direction. “I am… I can do great things. I am just as awesome as you.”

Loki raised both eyebrows. “Half an hour ago, I was the devil. Now I’m awesome?”

Darcy fell silent as she considered her words. “Umm… I take it back. You are not awesome because you are not married to two people and don’t have any horse babies.”

This time Loki looked really thrown. “I lose out on this… ‘awesome’ because I _don_ _’t_ have either of those things? You mortals are bizarre.”

“I bet you thought we were all predictable…” Darcy grinned at him, poking her tongue out at him.

“Darcy, I hardly think the word predictable could ever be used to describe you,” Loki answered. “Even with me reading your mind,” he added.

Darcy straightened up on the bed, playfully preening as she did. Coming from him, that was quite an observation. She sipped from her goblet again, draining what was left of it. This time Loki didn’t fill it out straight away. He seemed more interested in watching her.

“Hey it’s your turn,”  Darcy murmured, her mouth forming the words slowly but without slurring.

“I have never…” Loki trailed off, “eaten a hot cross bun.”

“What?” Darcy half-spluttered, half-giggled. “That’s very specific,” she declared. Of all things she might have expected him to say, it wouldn’t have been anything food related - especially not an easter treat. “Why a hot cross bun?” she inquired. Loki turned away, just a little but Darcy could swear that she glimpsed a flicker of colour in his lower cheek. Was this supervillain actually blushing? She grinned at him. “Haha, go on, you have to tell me now.” She perked up. “There’s a story behind this isn’t there? Come on,” she coaxed him. “You’re going to have to tell me now.” At that, Loki looked at her again, smiling a little. His gaze was a little unfocused but Darcy had a suspicion that it didn’t have anything to do with the alcohol. He looked like he had been far away and now he was almost home.

“Let’s just say that there was a lady,” he answered before bringing his goblet to his lips, “and she rather put me off the treat.”

Darcy’s smile dropped. “Eh?” she repeated. “Why?” she asked. Hot cross buns were an occasional treat she allowed herself. She loved it when they had only been heated a little and they were hot but soft. “What do you know?” she asked, brows gathering together in alliance.

Loki grinned towards her. “Do you really want to know?”

“Oh I’m not playing that game,” Darcy shook her head fiercely and the world began to spin around her. She rocked from side to side and she could hear Loki laughing. “Ok not a great idea,” she murmured, “in hindsight.”

“What game is that then?”

“The, I might tell her, I might not tell, game,” Darcy scoffed. “I bet you’re a master at it.”

“Of course I am” scoffed Loki. “That’s child’s play.”

 Darcy rolled her eyes and tilted her head back to think. “Hmmm, my turn. I have never…” she trailed off as she looked over at him. Her gaze trailed from that ridiculously well-chiseled face, down to his rather perfectly shaped shoulders and then down those well-muscled arms - not chunky like Thor’s. She let out a shiver as that flicker of attraction returned. More than a flicker really. Thoughts of trailing her hands down those arms, of running them over his chest, tugging aside that tunic of his. Dammit why did he have to be so good looking. Karma wasn’t fair. She averted her gaze back to his eyes and met his green ones, twinkling with amusement and something else that she wasn’t sure of. Yet it brought a flutter to her stomach.

“You have never…?” Loki prompted grinning now. It only increased the sensation in her stomach. The bastard somehow managed to look even more handsome when he grinned. It helped that there was no malice there though.

“I have never…” Darcy repeated, her breathing slow as she stared at him, “kissed a god.” She spoke the rest quickly. At first she didn’t think about the words, all she could do was stare at Loki some more.

It was the movement of Loki’s hand as he brought the goblet to his lips and drank. _Oh god,_ Darcy thought to herself, _I actually said that, didn_ _’t I?_ And now the bastard was smirking even more, around the rim of his goblets.

“I have never been in a cell that I didn’t deserve,” he smirked, gaze burning through Darcy deliciously. She took a large swig of her wine and shivered. Something new was crackling in the air between them, some power drawing her in. She needed to avoid making any more admissions like that and yet she didn’t want to. Something was pushing those thoughts to the front of her mind and she didn’t really mind that. In fact voicing them did seem like a great idea.

“I have never wanted to kiss a god,” she admitted before chugging back some more wine.

Loki’s eyes widened but he took a quick sip. “Oh really?” he challenged her. When she shot him a half-glare, he laughed and shrugged his shoulders. “I have never wanted to kiss the human in my cell,” he declared before chugging at his goblet too. He tossed the empty thing away from him. His eyes had darkened with lust by now and his gaze roamed over her body. Darcy preened a little appreciatively.

Darcy felt her chest loosen immediately and she raised her goblet to her lips draining the last of the wine. The rush of it washed over her and she dropped the goblet off the side of the bed, turning her attention to Loki, shifting her legs uncrossed. She edged a little closer and smiled as he moved closer to her in return. Suddenly his arm reached out, secured her about the waist and pressed her against his chest. Darcy’s hands were trapped against the softness of his tunic.

“No more games,” Darcy whispered.

“No more games,” he agreed as his lips leaned down to claim hers.


	5. And so a ravishing time was had

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy and Loki get passionate before help finally arrives.

Loki’s lips were hard against hers, moving insistently and powerfully as his other arm tugged Darcy closer to him. Her hands slid upwards until she was wrapping her arms around his shoulders. His hands moved up to hold her tight against him. Her chest pressed against his and her hands slid into his hair, tugging at the long locks. He moaned into her mouth, making her smile against his lips. He took advantage of the parting and deepened the kiss, his tongue exploring her mouth as hers slid into his. It was her turn to moan.

They kissed like that for long minutes, their mouths completely absorbed in claiming each other’s. It was only out of a desperate need to breathe that they pulled away and their breathing was hard and heavy as they caught their breath. Once they had, Loki caught her lips with his again, this time softer and less lingering. She gripped his shoulders, pulling him closer which he seemed to like. He trailed kisses, hard, wet ones down her neck until he was sucking on her shoulder, still pressing her close to him.

“Oh yes…” Darcy murmured, tugging on his hair as he did. When she tugged particularly hard, Loki’s teeth sunk into her neck and she gasped. His tongue immediately ran over the skin, soothing it and replacing it with pleasure as he continued to suck there. “Fuck, Loki,” she told him between moans. He brought his head back up to face her, grinning as he did so. This time Darcy claimed his lips, pushing him back until he was sat facing the side of the bed. She clambered into his lap and his hands moved to her hips.

“How adventurous,” he purred between kisses. “I can offer you so much more.”

“I’m sure,” Darcy murmured as she let her hands trail downwards before pushing up his green tunic, exposing a line of pale skin beneath. She slid her hands up his shirt and Loki shivered under her touch.

“Is that what you want?” he grinned against her lips. “For me to ravish you.”

Darcy grinned too. “Oh I definitely want to be ravished.” She declared. Her hands pushed his shirt higher up but suddenly Loki’s hands were pulling them away. “What the hell-?” she began to say but Loki merely smirked and pushed her back onto the bed, rising to his feet at the side of the bed.

“I can think of a much better use for the time spent undressing,” he declared as he turned to face her. A shimmer ran down his body from the neck downwards. As the green light moved downwards, it removed all of Loki’s clothing, exposing his subtle, toned chest, his indistinct abs and more importantly, an organ of a size that Darcy would not have expected from someone as slight as Loki. Her gaze lingered there just long enough for Loki to observe and laugh. The light which had finished undressing him, moved over her and Darcy squeaked at the rush of air to her bare skin as it started with her legs and moved upwards. Within seconds she was just as much naked as Loki was. Loki’s gaze roamed over her again. “Exquisite,” he told her before flicking his hand.

And then Darcy was moving, floating over the bed towards the pillows, the magic turning her so she lay in the middle of the bed, her back facing the headboard. She opened her mouth to protest but was silenced by the sight of Loki crawling across the mattress towards her, looking every inch the predator that he was. _That shouldn_ _’t be so hot_ , Darcy told herself.

“You’re going to need those pillows behind you, when I ravish you,” he told her as he hovered above her, nudging her legs open as he lowered his weight onto her. Darcy slid her hands up his arms, resting them on his shoulders as he leaned down and claimed her lips again. He was settled against her, his hard cock pressing against her womanhood and sending tingles all over her lower body. One hand returned to his hair again, entwining her fingers in his dark locks. In return he kissed her more insistently. Darcy’s free hand roamed down to his chest, exploring it before moving back up to caress his face.

“Like what you feel?” Loki murmured.

“Fuck yes,” Darcy told him right before he pushed himself into her. She gasped, arching her head back as he filled her out in one strong thrust. He was bigger than the guys she’d been with but he had the consideration to let her adjust to him. His lips found her throat, kissing it sensually and heatedly, his tongue tasting at her skin. She tilted her head back and met his soft kiss. It turned into a moan as he lightly moved his hips against her, giving her a wave of pleasure.

“Don’t stop,” she murmured against his lips and that was all the encouragement he needed. He began to push into her at a steady, regular rhythm. Each thrust brought a cry from her throat. She gasped when he grabbed her legs and wrapped them around his hips so he pushed deeper into her.

“Fuck, mortal,” he told her as he kissed her breasts. His mouth enveloped one of the nipples and Darcy let out a particularly loud moan, making him smirk against her skin. She held his head where it was and he began to tease her breast, his hand moving to roll the other one beneath his palm. Darcy’s breathing quickened and she arched her back. Loki’s other hand took the opportunity to pull her waist towards him so that he kept hitting a deeper spot inside her.

“Shit,” Darcy muttered as Loki’s thrusts increased in pace. She slid her feet over his ass and he growled against her breast. She did it again and he raised his head to look into her eyes. He captured her lips again and this time their kiss was far more passionate, deepening almost immediately as he rocked hard inside of her. Her hands slid up to cup his neck and his arms moved underneath her back. It was almost romantic being held like this as he screwed her.

It was glorious, easily the best sex that Darcy had had in a long time and yet she could sense that Loki was holding back on her.

“Ugh… Loki.. Harder… you can go harder…” she told him between kisses. He tugged on her lip with his teeth, his emerald eyes gazing into hers.

“Are you forgetting that you’re mortal and I’m a god?” he murmured before kissing her.

“Ok,” Darcy corrected between kisses, “hard and fast enough not to kill me?” she suggested. Loki grinned.

“My pleasure.” He hoisted her legs tighter around him, shifting so he was on his knees and elbows and began to thoroughly slam into her. Each thrust knocked her back against the pillows. She could feel the bed shake as he pumped into her furiously. The pleasure that had been climbing steadily suddenly began to race up with the new pace. Darcy could feel herself becoming breathless as she neared her euphoric peak.

“Loki yes…” she declared, “fuck yes.”

Loki didn’t answer her, his eyes were closed as he thrust harder into her. Darcy pulled him down into a kiss and he met it with a new passion, like he was consuming her mouth with his own. Darcy was becoming dizzy with the pleasure of it all. She was so close… He brought her to her climax seconds later and she cried out wildly as her peak washed over her, making her sag onto the bed.

But Loki didn’t stop or slow his pace. Instead it picked up and Darcy began to moan as his cock began to spike her pleasure levels again, restarting the climb. “Loki…” she repeated his name even as he buried his head in her breasts, nipping, biting and suckling them in return. She ran her hands through his hair until he raised his head to meet her kiss.

“Fuck, mortal, you’re extraordinary.” He admitted between kisses. His body was coated in a light sheen of sweat and Darcy slid her hands down his drenched back. She was amazed he was still going so fast but then reminded herself that he w _as_ a god after all. Still… there was one thing she would quite enjoy trying.

Tightening her grip around his hips, she pushed at Loki firmly, causing them both to roll over until Loki was underneath Darcy. His eyes snapped open but instead of looking surprised, he smirked as Darcy adjusted herself on him and began to ride him hard. His hands reached up to guide her hips the way he wanted them. “The view is quite sensational from down here,” he told her a little breathlessly, reaching up to pinch one of her nipples and play with her breasts. “I am rather fond of these,” he said as his other hand fondled the other breast. “Your body is quite something, Darcy.”

“I’m glad you think so,” she gasped as she rode him hard. Already she could feel her second climax building of the night. “Fuck!” she tilted her head back. “God, Loki…” she cried out as she changed her pace, bouncing herself up and down on his cock. That seemed to have a bigger effect on him. She watched as he arched his back, moaning considerably more.

“That’s the spot, my mortal temptress,” he coaxed her. “Ride me like that.”

Mortal temptress, well, she rather liked that… Darcy smiled and increased her pace, feeling the dizziness begin to approach again.

“Fuck Loki, I’m close again.”

“So am I Darcy, hold on a little longer.” He fondled her breasts, squeezing them before reaching down to hold her hips again. He was getting a lot more out of breath now, Darcy noticed as she gazed down at him.

Loki’s climax seemed to come out of nowhere. Suddenly he was crying out, closing his eyes, exposing his throat as his climax rushed through him. His finish then brought on Darcy’s who cried out once… twice and then immediately slumped down on him. His arms lazily wrapped around her before sleep took them both.

xxxxxxxx

Darcy woke up slowly and groggily. The world struggled to come into focus; all she could see was white and all she could feel was soft. Something lay across her chest and something else behind her head but she couldn’t quite make out what those things were. She blinked rapidly and lay still.

 _Am I in bed?_ She wondered to herself. The thought unlocked her awareness and after more blinking, she began to remember. She wasn’t at home; the freaky convergence thing had brought her to Asgard. She had been talking to the prisoner - Loki - and… it all began to reappear in her mind like one of those computer animations where things appeared in different orders at different times. There had been drinking, drinking games and… and then sex.

Darcy’s focus returned; she could see the white walls and ceiling of the cell. As she looked downward, she saw an arm draped across her chest. A toned masculine, pale arm. At some point the covers had been drawn and Loki’s arm now held the coverlet over her. Darcy looked sideways, into Loki’s face and nearly jumped a mile. Wide awake green eyes met hers along with a serene smile. She jerked away from him in bed and out of the corner of her eye, she saw that his other hand was draped across the pillow she’d been lying on.

“Er excuse you!” Darcy demanded. “What the hell?”

Loki just smirked. “You are very interesting when you sleep.”

“Said no sane person ever,” Darcy grumbled as she held the covers close to her. She sat up in bed, noting to her annoyance that Loki was watching her bare back appreciatively. “Oi,” she told him.

“It’s hardly required for you to be bashful now. I have seen you in all your glory,” Loki grinned up at her. Reluctantly her cheeks coloured.

“Where are my clothes?” she asked, casting her eye about the room. Her gaze immediately fixated on the golden electricity that stood in place of a door. Horror filled her from head to toe. “Did… could… could they look in while…?” she whirled on Loki. “Please tell me you put up some kind of block out when we were… were doing that.”

Loki’s smirk increased. “No.”

“So they saw…?”

“Everything.”

“Bastard!” Dropping the covers momentarily, Darcy twisted and hit the God of Mischief hard in the chest. “You bastard!” He only annoyed her further by laughing and bringing her closer to him in the bed. “Get off!” Darcy protested, wriggling away from him again. She scooted towards the end, grabbing the covers again and moving to slide her feet out of bed. “Where are my clothes?” she asked again.

“Right here,” Loki waved a hand and they appeared at the bottom of the bed. Darcy reached for them, pulling them up to her.

“I hope you’re going to block them out while I get changed.”

“Why would you think that?” Loki asked. He’d shifted now, lying on his side on his elbow, cheek propped against his fist. “I’d much rather you remain the way you are.”

“Fuck you,” Darcy flipped him off.

“I believe you just did.” He smirked.

She scowled. “I am not getting changed in front of all those Marauder freaks,” Darcy declared.

“I hardly think it matters, they’ve just seen you au naturale as they say,” Loki pointed out.

“I was drunk then-” Darcy began to argue. “Wait… I was drinking colossal strength alcohol… why is my head fine?”

“Sex with me would have chased away its effects.” Loki explained. He began to smile again. “The way I see it, you can remain as you are in bed with me until the guards make their rounds or you can get changed in front of the marauders. I can promise you, I can make for far more entertainment,” he assured her.

Darcy grimaced and looked out of the cell. She didn’t really want them to see any more of her but at the same time, lying in bed with the prisoner she’d just had very passionate sex with… well that wasn’t ideal either. Sighing, she lay back down and brought the covers up. However she edged away from Loki. “You stay on your side,” she told him grumpily. He didn’t seem to object. The bastard was still smirking.

Suddenly his smirk dropped and a strange expression passed over his face. His gaze glassed over as though he was no longer seeing Darcy anymore. He remained like that. As the seconds passed, Darcy frowned, feeling rather uneasy. She wondered if he was perhaps having some very strange trance right now. That thought only heightened the tension that was growing inside Darcy. Oh dear god, what if he started having a freak out?

Fortunately after a few moments, Loki’s face cleared but the humour had vanished from his face. He waved a hand over Darcy and her clothes appeared. “The guards are coming for you,” he told her before applying his own clothes with the same spell. “As is my mother.” He added this as he climbed out of bed. Darcy followed suit, relieved to be clothed again. The relief lasted about two seconds before she caught on to what Loki just told her.

“Do you mean the Queen of Asgard is coming to get me?” Darcy half squeaked. “Shit.”

Loki’s face was drained of colour and he looked like he was having a hard time breathing. Darcy was slightly amused by this. Was he seriously frightened of his own mother? She just about resisted the urge to snigger at him. Partly because he was suddenly rummaging through the inner pocket on his brown jacket. His face scrunched up in some concentration before he brought out what looked like a credit card. He immediately held it out to Darcy.

“Take this, you’re going to need it when you go back to Midgard.”

Darcy hesitated. “Oh I’m not falling for that. Knowing you, this’ll be a bomb designed to take me out so I can’t talk.”

Anger coloured Loki’s features. “Don’t insult me. It’s exactly what it looks like.” He waved a hand over the card. “It’s now in your name and there’s enough money for you to be set up. Away from liberty taking scientists.”

It was Darcy’s turn to scowl. “Hey don’t you start on Jane-”

“There’s no time to argue about this. I give you my word that this is exactly what it looks like.”

“You want to talk about what this looks like?” Darcy snapped back. “It looks like you’re paying me for sex.”

Loki seemed to fume even more at this suggestion. “The money isn’t for the sex. Just take it, please.”

Darcy faltered. She didn’t think she’d ever heard him say please before and there was a look in his eye that told her that maybe, just maybe, he might be telling the truth. She hesitated once more before taking the card from him. “I’ll take it if you tell me why.” She told him.

Loki swallowed and looked away. “Because I was once like you. I was second best instead of achieving my dreams. I don’t relish seeing someone else go through that.” He admitted before turning away. “Anyway,” he added quickly. “You assistance is here.”

Darcy turned towards the exit of the cell. Two soldiers in gold and gray plated armour stood to attention next to a frankly, fabulously regal woman. Dressed in flowing robes of gold, her hair was a light red-gold and worn in a crown of curls. She had a very motherly face, Darcy thought and yet her posture screamed royal. Straight backed and proud. She smiled at Darcy for a second or two before her expression changed as she looked towards Loki.

“You haven’t harmed her?” she asked, her voice clear and sharp. It was full of concern and yet Darcy could hear the undercurrent of love within it.

“You can see for yourself, Darcy is quite unhurt.” Loki’s voice was sullen and muffled from moving away from Darcy.

Darcy glanced back towards him but he was moving to sit on the edge of the ruffled bed. The bed they’d been having sex in mere moments… hours ago? She had no idea how much time had passed since she’d arrived here.

She turned back to the Queen who was now looking towards her. “He hasn’t hurt you, child?” the Queen asked her in a tender voice.

“Oh, um, no,” Darcy mumbled, suddenly comprehending that she was talking to an actual Queen. And not just of a country but of a whole planet! She swallowed and bowed her head. “Your majesty,” she added hastily.

The Queen raised a hand and a small doorway appeared in the golden, flickering material. It swung open creating a gap in whatever the entrance was made out of. Darcy didn’t waste time before hurrying through it. She jumped down from the elevated floor and watched as the Queen re-sealed the cell.

“My name is Frigga,” she told Darcy after she turned around. “I would prefer you to address me as such,” she told her with a smile. She gestured for Darcy to walk with her. “I am very sorry that the Convergence had such an effect on you. I hope that my son was not too troublesome company.”

Darcy hesitated. Did she lie to the Queen to spare her feelings or did she admit how nasty Loki had been? She certainly wasn’t going to mention the last part. She was sure Frigga wouldn’t want to hear it either. She figured that given where Loki was, she couldn’t pretend he’d been a saint but considering he’d not actually hurt her, there was that to consider too. “He was kind of an ass but I handled it,” Darcy answered as they walked towards the stairs leading out of the chambers.

Frigga sighed now. “I have to admit I wondered if you would be safe, once I learned that you were here. I apologise for the trouble Loki caused.”

“It’s not your fault,” Darcy said awkwardly as she slid her hands into her pockets. “To be honest, I just want to go home,” she told the Queen. “I just want to go home and lie in bed and listen to cheesy music all night.”

Frigga smiled a little at that. “Then Darcy,” she told her, “that is exactly what you shall do.”


	6. Twelve weeks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy has set up a new life for herself but that life comes with an unexpected complication.

**Twelve weeks later. Alaska.**

The house was beautifully tucked away behind the mountains. A length, twisting road wove through the miles of forest, steadily climbing upwards until the pearly stone of the cottage stood out. It looked out over the forest towards where the peaceful allure of the lake glittered under the sunlight. On a bright day, with the fewest clouds lingering about, the lake reflected the cornflower blue of the sky perfectly. Everything was so still here like it was untouched by time. The house was miles out of civilisation, enveloped in the aura of nature itself. From the garden she could see the world unfolding in front of her like a child’s play-mat with patches of green for land and blue for ocean. It was completely idyllic and more importantly, it wasn’t a dream.

Darcy could never have afforded to live somewhere so beautiful and remote if it hadn’t been for the mysteriously given card from Loki. Darcy had choked on her coffee when she had seen the balance on the atm screen. $800,000. Her bank had been equally mystified to suddenly learn about the account but after an investigation, there was nothing to prove that this account hadn’t been set up for her and only just now been transferred to her. For those first weeks, Darcy hadn’t been able to get the feeling of being an expensive Midgardian prostitute out of her mind. The money had sat untouched in the account for a while before she’d finally accepted it.

Loki had told her that the money wasn’t a gift for her ‘services’ but for the fact that he felt like she deserved more for her hard work and life situation. It still didn’t make much sense to Darcy but once she’d reminded herself of that, it was a little easier to accept the money for being exactly that. After that she’d returned to America, travelling up to a part of the country she’d always wanted to live - Alaska.  She’d stayed in a hotel while she looked up all the isolated property in the area. The house cost over half of her windfall but she’d been able to pay off her utility bills for the next two years. She could have paid for more but Darcy knew better than everyone that a great deal could happen in two years. The important thing was that she was financially secure and living in an area she’d always dreamed of.

Living in a large city had been more of a necessity than a choice for Darcy in the past. She’d grown up in the heart of urban Virginia and ever since then she’d lived and stayed in busy places for work usually. New Mexico hadn’t been too bad really. It was a smaller town and very isolated. The quiet sort of place you could find yourself living the rest of your life in. That is until the killer robot had come in and ruined the ambiance entirely.

London had been horrendous: the noise, the pollution, the rush. Everything seemed to be happening all at once. Everyone was in a hurry and as for driving over there…. Why did the British have to drive on the other side of the road? What was the point of that? Was it just an insistence on being difficult? Although Darcy supposed the British may have started it first in which case maybe it was America that was being awkward. Still, it didn’t make it any less of a pain trying to drive through the capital of England. By the end of her stay there, Darcy had wished Jane had found an observatory in a quieter part of the country. Although beggars couldn’t be choosers. Nor could unpaid interns.

Until now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**The day before**

“Pregnant?” Darcy repeated for the sixth time that minute.

Dr Beauharnais who, no doubt had seen various reactions on a great spectrum over the years, simply nodded again, continuing to smile at her. Darcy could see behind those ocean blue eyes though that there was a sliver of amusement there. Maybe it was the excessive repetition or perhaps it was the fact that every time Darcy lay back on the examination table to process the news, she then immediately sat up again and repeated the diagnosis.

“Yes,” the young doctor assured her, falling silent again in order to give Darcy more space. Darcy began to wish that she wouldn’t, that she would say something else just to break the cycle because right now Darcy felt like she was on a loop. Attempt to process. Fail. Check again. “Twelve weeks,” the doctor spoke, as though hearing Darcy’s hidden wish.

Darcy’s insides ran cold at the answer. _Oh god no. Twelve weeks was the Convergence. Oh hell no. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Oh fuck this was bad. Of all things to happen, this would happen to her, wouldn_ _’t it? What was it with her and aliens? New Mexico, Asgard, London and now this baby. Oh crap, she would have to get pregnant by an evil alien overlord wouldn’t she? Even if he was dashingly sexy. No!_ Darcy corrected herself. _No. Evil overlords were not allowed to keep being dashingly sexy especially when they impregnated someone. No. Selfish asshole was a better word. Yes, much better._

“You’re sure?” Darcy asked. “Definitely twelve weeks?” she asked.

“No doubt about it.” Dr Beauharnais confirmed. “I’m going to book you in for a scan.”

Darcy clamped her hand over her mouth and sucked in a deep breath. Her eyes flickered around the room. Dr Beauharnais’ office was pretty cool. The walls were painted a light blue, the same shade as the sky in summer. Clouds were painted around the room. The doctor had even hung up some of her medical certificates in front of those clouds so it looked like her achievements were floating. That looked pretty cool in all honesty. But even that wasn’t enough to subdue to rise of panic in Darcys’ throat.

A scan meant that she’d see the baby. That it would be real and she really would be pregnant. Why would the universe let her be pregnant? She had no family, no job or a partner for that matter and she’d never been responsible for another person in her life. Except maybe a depressed Jane but that was pretty easy. Aside from the money she had absolutely nothing going for her that would suggest she was a suitable parent. She wasn’t religious so there was no comfort in believing that the baby might be God’s purpose for her or whatever. It was a random thing and, as far as Darcy was concerned, potentially a huge mistake.

It was one thing having a baby full stop and yet another thing entirely to have the child of a god. Not just any god but the god who had orphaned and widowed thousands of people in New York and New Mexico, who had rained down so much chaos and was enemy number one as far as Shield was concerned. This baby wouldn’t be completely like a human baby. Darcy was no scientist but even she knew that the physiology would be very different. It would show up on the scans, which would lead to tests, which would bring in the government and then Shield. The process of how fast this would escalate was dizzying to think about.  Darcy reached up as her vision spun. Oh right, she was actually getting dizzy. Another perk of this pregnancy.

Dr Beauharnais rose from her seat and crossed over to where Darcy sat. “Miss Lewis,” she placed a hand on Darcy’s shoulder. “Stay still. It will pass in a few moments,” she assured her. “Take some slow, deep breaths for me now.” Darcy slowly did as she was told and she felt the dizziness begin to disappear. Once it had, she lowered her hand from her head.

“Sorry,” she said for no reason, “I’m just trying to get my head around this.”

“It’s an overwhelming thing,” Dr Beauharnais told her. “Just take your time.”

 _Well, that option_ _’s out of the window_ , Darcy thought to herself with a frown. _As of now I_ _’m on a timer. A nine month timer. Wait, do Asgardian babies even take that long to develop? This isn’t going to go all Twilight on me is it? Wait, no, Asgardians age longer. Am I gonna be pregnant for years?!_ She began to panic inwardly. _Jesus Christ, Darcy. Look what you got yourself into. Only freakin_ _’ you._

“So I’m three months,” Darcy repeated lamely. “Oh god that’s…. That’s six months left and then labour.” Immediately her brain switched to autopilot, using the human pregnancy length. She had no way of knowing how long she was pregnant for so for now she had to go off a human basis. “That freakin’ hurts doesn’t it? Like really really super hurts and then I have a crying baby and oh shit that means…” Being responsible, making decisions that affect both her and the child and actually _being a mom._ Darcy exhaled hard. She had never been the reckless, spontaneous type to blow all her resources on booze and clothes; she’d always had savings. And yet she’d gone through her life between work and study doing all the things that single, childless people do: have adventures, get up to crazy stuff after one too many, attend comic-con, go to concerts and occasionally go on holiday. And she’d done all that with a tight budget. It seemed like a cruel irony that now she had the actual money to do more of it, she was now pregnant and so those days… well they wouldn’t be as often anymore. “That means my life’s going to change,” she finished, feeling like a fool as she spoke the words.

Darcy sucked in another breath on the examination table before swinging her legs off it. Dr Beauharnais reached out a hand as if advising against it but dropped it as Darcy met her gaze. “So you mentioned a scan?” she asked. She pushed her racing thoughts to one side. If she dwelt any longer, she’d probably be here on night. Time to focus on the practical stuff. Get home and think about it later.

Over a large glass of wine.

Shit. Darcy cursed to herself.

Damn it baby.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tired, Darcy stepped into the house, looking around at the silent, heavily wood-furnished lounge in front of her. The walls were made from a chestnut oak with similarly coloured beams positioned randomly throughout the room. Darcy liked the lack of symmetry there. It relaxed her. The floor had been carpeted just after she’d purchased the house. Darcy and laminated flooring did not mix well especially when she was wearing socks. Besides the carpet was softer on her skin in the evenings when she liked to lie in front of the fire.

 _Another thing I won_ _’t be able to do soon,_ she thought to herself as she wandered around the backs of the cream sofas, positioned at a right angle in front of a gigantic fireplace. A large television was mounted on the adjacent wall to the fireplace. She flopped down onto the sofa facing the tv. She chucked her bag to one side, not bothering to remove her coat yet. She stared over at the cold, empty fireplace for a moment before grabbing the remote control from the coffee table in front of her.

 _Well at least watching TV is something I_ _’ll be able to do more of,_ Darcy thought to herself, as she remembered all the pregnant women she’d seen out and about on the streets, many of them with bumps so large they couldn’t even see their own feet. Darcy looked down at her own and wriggled them experimentally. Swollen ankles, she had that to look forward to as well. Still, her knowledge of pregnancy was limited to the tidbits expressed by her friends and from what she’d read or watched on TV. In any case, it didn’t sound like much fun.

“Seriously, kiddo,” Darcy murmured as she leaned back on the couch. “Could you have picked a weirder time to exist?” Her thumb hovered over the power button on the remote but the desire to watch any TV had been just as fleeting as her moment of being single, childless and rich. Although technically she had never been that. A spreading sensation of guilt washed through her and she placed her hand on the flat surface of her stomach. “Sorry,” she muttered. “But I don’t know anything about being a mom so… looks like this is gonna be pretty messed up for both of us, eh?”

Darcy reached into her back, bringing out the square white envelope. It was already opened and the paper inside was already crinkled from repeated handling. The black and grey shadows of the ultrasound stared up at her. The blurring waves of the image spread out around the tiny figure of her baby in the centre. Darcy’s breath caught as she saw it again. _That_ _’s my baby, that’s my child…My child with a murderer._

Tears began to fall from Darcy’s eyes, starting off as trickle and then running steadily down her face in multiple streams. Tears of uncertainty, tears of shock, tears of being overwhelmed and then tears of guilt.

Because right now, she didn’t know if she even wanted the baby.


	7. Visit from the Not-Mother-In-Law

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy receives an unexpected visitor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so I am working on this fic and several others as part of Nanowrimo this year so I should have plenty of updates this month and so the story will finally be moving along.

_The next day_

Darcy supposed that it was something at least, that she didn’t have morning sickness.

Yet.

Still the tiredness kind of sucked; she slept in but then she would still wake up tired and yet sleep would not reclaim her in its loving embrace, forcing her to climb out of bed, throw herself into the shower and change into some jeans and a t-shirt that wouldn’t fit her in a few months. Darcy was pretty sure that they were a little tighter to get on this morning too and the last couple of days. Well so far, pregnancy sucks, Darcy decided as she ran a brush through her hair. Even after a thorough brushing, it rose upwards in a subtle show of static which earned a growl towards her mirror.

That’s ok, Darcy thought to herself miserably, I’ll just look like some well-dressed hobo, it’s fine.

She strode into the kitchen and was immediately met by the sight of her beautiful, wonderful coffee machine, perched next to the fridge invitingly. Darcy froze and stared at it mournfully before scowling down at her stomach. “You had better be super cute,” she growled before going to fetch herself a glass of pineapple juice. _That_ _’s if I’m even keeping the little munchkin,_ she mused inwardly.

She immediately frowned. The idea of an abortion was abhorrent. Darcy had never even considered that she might think about it one day and yet, even just thinking about it made her insides run cold and her blood stiffen. She shuddered a little but the feeling remained, like her own body was telling her to forget the idea. Or maybe the baby itself. What’s to say babies couldn’t read their mama’s mind in the womb? It wasn’t a scientific fact but it wasn’t disproved either. Mother and baby were connected after all. If that was the case, was this the baby fighting back? Or maybe it was because it had alien DNA?

Darcy groaned as she poured the juice into the glass. Or maybe she was just going crazy. Yep. That would just about top off this situation perfectly.

She washed down a couple of poptarts with the juice along with several more pop tarts. Who knew how much longer she’d be able to stomach them? May as well make the most of still being able to eat what she liked while she could.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

After breakfast Darcy curled up on the couch with a tawny brown and cream patchwork blanket and brought up Netflix. She scrolled through a number of films before eventually deciding on The Princess Diaries. A classic in her list; her viewing amount for this film must be at least a few dozen by now. But she’d never known this film not to cheer her up.

She was two thirds into the film, watching as poor Mia got humiliated on the beach by the school bitches, when she was suddenly struck by an awkward, uncomfortable feeling. Like Mia, she was now caught up in a situation that she had never been prepared for and if she continued with this scenario then chances are a whole bunch of strangers were going to be bothering her too. Darcy sighed and paused the film.

Darcy had never really thought much about having kids; she’d always told herself that she’d have them when she was thirty; when she had done everything she wanted to do in her twenties: having some adventures, dating around some more, maybe travel the world on a string of exciting and random holidays. Kids were always on the horizon but not this soon. And certainly, an alien baby had never been part of the plan. The familiar feeling of guilt stirred up in her again and she sighed hard. None of this was the baby’s fault either but… she didn’t know if she had what it took to be a mom. To be that responsible for someone else and to do a good job of it. Somehow that wasn’t something she could imagine. And yet the alternative was horrifying.

There was no third option. Adoption was out of the question. Chances are the kid would end up in the foster system and it was already going to be different because of its genetics - that was probably going to cause even more problems without her around to try and minimise the catastrophe of having an alien baby. No, she knew that she couldn’t inflict that kind of life on a baby, not when she’d been in the foster system herself. It was keep the baby or terminate the pregnancy.

And Darcy was no killer.

But could she be a mother?

The answer to that was as far away as the distant clouds on the horizon but Darcy was spared from answering by the sudden blinding light that illuminated the floor to ceiling patio doors that opened out on the garden. Bright golden light filled the panes for long seconds, spilling into the room somewhat and creating a golden patch on the floor. Flickers of other colours appeared in the light, each one disappearing as quickly as it appeared. The light was familiar and the tingles of recognition spread through Darcy along with a wave of alarm. Was that light from…?

“Asgard…?” Darcy whispered, moving the blanket aside and swinging her legs down from the sofa. “Shit.” As if she needed anything else freaky to happen to her! She was already pregnant with a war criminal’s baby. What more could Asgard possibly want to throw at her?

As quickly as the light had appeared and developed, it suddenly began to fade away and Darcy was able to look fully through the patio doors again. A woman stood there the light had appeared and as Darcy walked towards the doors, she immediately recognised her by the red-gold hair and the air of regal serenity she held, even here.

Darcy slid the doors open, blinking slowly. “Queen Frigga?” she murmured. Too late, she realised her mistake and managed a clumsy half bow. “Ummm, it’s good to see you…” she began to babble, “was there something I could…um, help you with?” The question sounded ridiculous to her ears but it felt necessary to be asked. What help she could be, she had no idea. In fact she was pretty damn sure that there was no reason for the Queen to call down on her? Unless it was compensation in which case Darcy would need to tell her about Loki’s generous donation. Unless… oh shit, it was stolen wasn’t it? That must be what the Queen was here for, to collect and send Darcy away. Pregnant and penniless. Oh this was getting better and better… not.

“Yes there is,” Frigga nodded, still smiling. “But I was hoping we could discuss this inside. Would that be alright?”

Darcy had to blink twice to make sure she was hearing this right. The Queen of Asgard, the fanciest of all the realms, was asking Darcy’s permission to come in? For a moment the human girl didn’t respond, only blinking slowly in response. After the Queen said nothing, Darcy’s voice finally caught up with her.

“Y-yeah, of course, come on in,” she told her as she stepped inside. The Queen stepped indoors and Darcy suppressed a shiver of awe at this scenario. She glanced out into the garden again. She hoped the light hadn’t attracted anyone else here. She’d chosen this isolated location exactly because of it, after all. Darcy’s gaze fell upon the grass where Frigga had landed. The markings of the Bifrost were printed on the grass. _Great, just what I always wanted_ , Darcy inwardly grumbled. _I bet Jane would love to be in my garden right now,_ she thought with just a flicker of amusement.

She followed Frigga further into the lounge. The Queen was gazing around at the place with pleasant curiosity. Darcy immediately flushed. It must look so plain next to Bling City. Still, at least she was being polite about it, for the moment anyway. After a moment she turned back round. Her blue eyes found Darcy’s immediately and her smile widened.

“You have a lovely home,” she told her, “cosy and spacious,” she added. Darcy smiled back, pleased with the compliment despite the fact that Frigga had only actually seen one room. However she was distracted from responding by Frigga’s gaze suddenly shifting down to Darcy’s stomach. Darcy glanced down with a frown, tugging down on her t-shirt self consciously.

“Is there something wro-?” Darcy began to ask as she looked back up and caught the little smile on Frigga’s face. The truth switch flipped on at once. “You know about the baby…” she observed, surprising herself with her own calmness about the situation. How the heck could this woman know when Darcy herself had only known two days now. In the back of Darcy’s mind, she remembered a mention of Heimdall, the Watcher. The idea of him was pretty creepy, especially when you thought about bathroom antics or couple business. But then she supposed he couldn’t watch everyone all the time. Surely?

Frigga nodded. “I knew from the moment you stepped out of that cell.”

Darcy stiffened all over. “Excuse me?” she whispered. The Queen had known? All that time? For a whole three months the Queen of Asgard had known she was going to carry her grandchild and yet… “You walked me to the Bifrost!” Darcy snapped, gesturing up to the sky. “You had all that time, talking to me, to tell me that your son got me pregnant and… what the fuck?!”  she demanded, stepping away from the Queen. “Sorry to swear, your majesty.” She continued, eyebrows shooting upwards. “But I think this is pretty justified. You knew I was having a baby and you didn’t see fit to tell me.”

“Darcy,” Frigga began gently. “You have every right to be angry. But I thought it might distress you and then-”

Darcy’s whole body was rigid with tension. “You thought it would harm the baby. You were trying to make sure nothing would happen to your grandchild.” She spoke the words with a calm that she didn’t feel; her eyes remained locked with Frigga’s gaze as the hurt began to rise from her stomach into her church.

It was a nice thing, that Frigga had been looking out for the baby. That her first instinct had been the welfare of the unborn child. It was an instinctual motherly thing to do. And Darcy knew that she should understand that. Yet right now she felt anything but understanding. _You lied to me so you didn_ _’t lose your grandchild. You kept a secret about my own body. You let me believe that things were finally going to go well for me. You hid the truth because it suited you._ All of those thoughts raced through Darcy’s head, frequent, repeating and unfiltered. Beneath those questions of hurt and betrayal, burnt a sickening kind of jealousy too, small but sour enough to make Darcy feel nauseated. _How is that you can feel like that about a baby you_ _’re not even carrying? How can you feel what I can’t? Why am I the one who’s pregnant when I don’t know the first thing about being a mother? Especially not to a child of a murderer._

“Can you blame me?” Frigga’s voice was gentle. Darcy’s voice, when she replied, was sharp as flint.

“No,” she declared, pursing her lips together. “Is that what this visit is for?” she asked, folding her arms tightly together. “To check I’ve not harmed the baby.” Frigga looked genuinely shocked at the idea but the coldness was seeping through Darcy’s chest and she didn’t care. She tightened her arms around herself. “Well the baby’s fine so… you can go now,” she told her before crossing the room, towards the couch.

“Darcy.”

The older woman’s calm tone was a little infuriating, Darcy thought as she turned around and flopped down on the couch, glaring up at the queen. Frigga moved towards the adjacent couch, slowly taking a seat. Darcy was tempted to ask her to move but she figured there was probably a limit to how rude she could be to the queen before she pushed her luck too far. Instead she dropped her arms to the side and looked away. She knew she probably looked like a sulky child right now but looking at the queen brought their walk across the bifrost back to the forefront of her mind. The many opportunities to tell Darcy the truth.

“Darcy,” Frigga spoke again with a firmer tone. “Listen to me.”

“Is that a command?” Darcy snapped, her gaze bright as she looked back over towards the queen. “I mean, you are the Queen of Asgard.”

“No,” Frigga answered back immediately, a fierce look in her eyes. “It’s a request.”

Darcy held her gaze for a moment. “What do you want?” she murmured before averting her gaze to the side, watching the white patch of light on the carpet before the patio doors. She thought of how brilliant gold that light had been minutes ago.

“I don’t want you to be alone in this pregnancy.” Frigga told her, placing her hands in her lap and raising her chin. It was a look that dared Darcy to argue with her. Darcy briefly considered it, to match her despite the fact that she was a human mortal. But some semblance of self-preservation held her back and she pressed her lips together instead and looked away again. “This is a special gift that you carry, Darcy. There’s nothing greater than the gift of a child.” Darcy’s lips pursed together, avoiding letting slip something unkind like asking if Frigga was going to throw more cliches her way. However she was distracted by Frigga leaning forwards, closer to Darcy’s line of vision. “I won’t pretend to know what’s going on in your head,” she told Darcy quietly. “I’ve only been pregnant once before and every woman is different. But I can see that you’re worried.”

Darcy’s expression softened just a little. “What do you expect? I’ve only known about this for a couple of days.” She pointed out. “Perhaps I could have been more prepared for your visit if I had actually been told sooner.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. The non-existent filter she was born with, seemed to be dipping into the minus figures now. She sighed heavily and shifted in her seat. “Look, I’m sorry,” she told the queen with a wave of her hand. “But I feel like as it’s my body, I should have been told straight away.”

“And what would you have done?” For the first time in the conversation, Darcy heard the fear in the queen’s voice and it was unnerving. The fierce light in Frigga’s eyes was replaced by a gentle trepidation. Darcy’s chest began to sting again. This woman really loved the baby already. It was written all over her face. It practically radiated off her. Darcy’s eyes watered for a moment and she looked away once more, wiping at her eyes. “If you had known earlier…” Frigga continued.

“I don’t know,” Darcy admitted. “I just… I would understand everything more by now. Everything would make sense, I’d know what I wanted, what I needed to do and… I don’t, right now. I don’t know what I want or what to do. I…” she trailed off. “I feel lost and….” She looked down at her hands, which sat in her lap. “I don’t feel connected to the baby. Not like women do when they find out they’re pregnant,” she found the words beginning to flow out of her, like Frigga was lulling them out with her attentive silence and gentle voice. “They get excited don’t they? They love their baby immediately.” She wiped at her eyes.

“Not all of them do,” Frigga leaned further forward. “Pregnancy is overwhelming. I know I was with Thor.”

“Well…” Darcy pulled a face. “In fairness, you were having Thor…” Suddenly she grimaced. “Jesus! That must have been horrible, pushing him out.” She straightened up in her chair and shuddered. “He looks like he was a huge baby.” Frigga began to laugh and her whole face illuminated in warmth when she did so. It was infectious, slowly drawing a smile from Darcy too.

“He wasn’t actually,” Frigga admitted. “Which is a surprise when you look at him now.” She turned back to Darcy. “My point is that the act of giving life is terrifying and it’s normal to feel like it’s getting on top of you. There’s so much to do… so much to decide,” she added in a quiet voice. “And, you need to do what’s best for you.” She kept a straight face but Darcy could sense the undercurrent of pain in her words. “Otherwise you’re not doing anyone any favours.”

“I don’t know what I want, what to do,” Darcy responded, throwing her hands up in the air. “I have never looked after kids before. I can take care of myself but suddenly I have this baby, this innocent little thing that’s going to depend on me. You understand? Actually depend on me? Like I’m someone super responsible and reliable.”

“You don’t think you are those things?” Frigga wondered aloud.

Darcy sighed. “I thought I’d be older when I had kids - had more adventures and lived my life some more. But….” she closed her eyes, thinking about the tiny white shape in the middle of the shadows of the ultrasound, “but I hate the idea of abortion. I don’t think I could ever do that to a child.” She licked her lips lightly. “But saying that means that I am going to be a mom and I don’t know if I’m ready.”

Frigga’s breath hitched. She was silent a moment or two while her eyes raked over Darcy thoughtfully. “And you’ve never considered adoption?”

The younger woman gave her a frowning, cautious look. “It’s interesting how you bring _that_ up.”

Frigga straightened in her seat. “Loki told you then,” she remarked. The glimmer of a smile crossed her face. “That’s interesting in itself.” She shook her head like she was chasing away a thought. “I am simply curious.”

Darcy looked down at her hands which had dropped into her lap again. “No,” she answered quietly. “I grew up in the system. I guess I was luckier than some kids but it still sucked. I don’t want to put another child through that.” She brought her legs up beneath her on the couch and looked up at Frigga who had seemed to regain some colour that had faded from her face. “But still,” she told the queen, “it doesn’t change the fact that I don’t feel connected to this baby at all. That’s not normal, is it?”

“You would be surprised,” Frigga whispered. “Women respond in many ways. I have known many friends who have loving relationships with their children. But they didn’t necessarily greet the pregnancy with open arms. Having a baby means change. Not everyone’s ready for it. Besides,” she added, rising from her sofa and moving over to sit next to Darcy, “you haven’t known very long. Give yourself a chance to adjust. Don’t pressure yourself into feeling things because you think they’re right. You feel what you feel.”

Swallowing hard, Darcy fought a prickle of tears behind her eyes. “But it’s not fair on the baby. It never asked to exist.”

“Nor did you ask for any of this,” Frigga reminded her. “If you give yourself time to breathe, you will be giving yourself and the child the best chance,” she added. “You have time to get your head around this.”

Time. That reminded Darcy. “Oh,” she murmured, focusing her gaze on Frigga. “That’s a point. Time. How long do Asgardians stay pregnant for?”

That amused Frigga a little. “About a year.” At Darcy’s jaw drop, she laughed. “But yours is half human, it may be less. Although Loki is a frost giant and their pregnancies are about two years.”

“WHAT?!” Darcy shrieked. “Two years?!”

Frigga met her incredulous expression with a straight face. “Yes, their young spend longer in the womb to become strong. Loki’s considered a runt in his race but he’s still a full frost giant. He was most likely prematurely delivered,” she added in a musing tone. Darcy meanwhile, had completely drained of colour.

“So if that’s… two years and this baby is half…”

“You may well be pregnant for a year,”  Frigga told her gently. She reached out and touched the girl’s arm. “But I couldn’t say for sure. A half human and a half Jotunn has never existed before.”

The remainder of Darcy’s stomach completely plummeted. Oh yes because she really wanted to know that! “That’s…” she stammered, “that’s really reassuring. Thank you. I appreciate it.”

“I’m sorry,” Frigga shifted closer to her on the couch. “I did not intend to frighten you, nor should you be frightened.” She slid her hand down to take one of Darcy’s. Darcy unconsciously squeezed her hand in return, taking a little comfort from the strength of the older woman’s grip. “You have support in me and my family in Asgard. This baby is part of our world as well as yours. We will help you in every way we can,” she told her. “Do not fear that you will be on your own in this.”

Darcy released a shaking breath. “What else am I supposed to think? I don’t have family. My friends are all off with their own families and…” she sighed, “this baby isn’t exactly normal, is it?”

The Queen of Asgard bowed her head. “If by normal, you mean a typical human then no. This baby will be stronger and, yes, different.” She smiled a little at Darcy. “But I’ve seen your strength, Darcy. I think that you could be good for this baby. I don’t read the prejudice or the malice in you that I read in others of your race.”

“I would never judge this baby for being different,” Darcy argued wearily. “I’ve always been the weird kid at school. I wasn’t popular, I wasn’t nerdy, I wasn’t sporty… I didn’t fall into any of those categories,” she declared. “I don’t care if the baby’s individual, if they’re weird or quirky,”  she told Frigga firmly. “I’m just scared that I’m not up to being a good mother. That I’ll mess up, that I won’t be a responsible parent… there’s so much pressure in having a baby and…” she exhaled hard. “I don’t want to let the baby down.”

“You’d be surprised how many mothers feel like that, Darcy.” Frigga told her encouragingly. “Even if it doesn’t seem it. Pregnancy is life changing and not everyone feels they can do parenthood at first. All you can do is give yourself the time to get your head around it and, more importantly,” she added, “do your best.”

“Really?” Darcy smiled reluctantly. “Do your best? You do know that’s the oldest cliche in the book?”

Frigga returned the smile. “Some things are cliches for good reasons,” she pointed out. She released Darcy’s hand and reached up to push some of Darcy’s hair out of her eyes. It was a surprisingly motherly gesture but it felt nice and Darcy made no move to push her hand away. “Now,” Frigga continued, “how about a drink? You look like you could do with some of that hot cocoa you mortals are so fond of.”

“You mean hot chocolate,” Darcy quietly corrected. “Yeah, I would make us some but I’m all out.” She began to rise from the couch. “But I have tea, coffee or-”

“Don’t you move,” Frigga gently nudged Darcy back down, smiling wider. “As you mortals like to say… I’ve got this.” She swirled her hand in the air and gold sparks flew from her hand. Suddenly a large mug of steaming hot chocolate, complete with marshmallows and cream, appeared between Darcy’s hands. Darcy stared down at it, her face breaking into a wide smile.

“Ok,” she declared as her eyes lit up in excitement, “I forgot how awesome magic is.” She smiled wider at Frigga, diverting her gaze from the lightly bobbing colours in the whipped cream. “Thanks,” she added before blowing on her hot chocolate. A mug had appeared in Frigga’s hand and she was sipping from hers already. Darcy guessed that Asgardians had a tolerance for higher and probably lower temperatures. She was, however, equally amused to see that Frigga’s mountain of cream and marshmallows was just as high as her own. Any notions she might have had about Frigga watching her calories because she was a queen were refreshingly banished from Darcy’s mind.

After a couple of blows on the scalding liquid, Darcy took a tentative sip and closed her eyes at the delicious burst of chocolate goodness. “Perfect,” she murmured. Chocolate had the wonderful effect of taking the edge of though Darcy knew it wouldn’t chase all of her problems away. Not for good, anyway. But for now it might make her feel a little better, a little easier although Frigga’s words had lightened the load somewhat. She took another sip and closed her eyes. “I’ve needed that all day and yesterday,” she murmured.

Frigga waved a hand over her shoulder with a non chalant little smile. “Well now you’re all stocked up,” she declared as her hand sparkled with that gold light again. “For a while,” she added with a slight wink that made Darcy giggle.

“You’ve filled all my cupboards up haven’t you?” Darcy began to grin. “Heck you’ve replaced everything with chocolate, haven’t you?”

Frigga immediately scoffed. “You make me sound like Thor. That’s what that boy would do with magic. He’d magic up dozens of those strange treats he had here. What were they called? Poptarts?”

Darcy’s grin widened and she felt a little swell of pride. “Poptarts are pretty awesome,” she informed the queen. “Sugar and jammy goodness, what’s not to like?”

Frigga tilted her head back and laughed a little. “They sound strange.”

“They do,” Darcy tilted her head to one side, “but they are delicious.” She looked towards the kitchen and sat forward in her seat. “Are you hungry? I could make you some,” she suggested, “they don’t take long.” Her grin developed into a laugh at the sudden cautious look on the queen’s face. “I’m not trying to poison the queen of Asgard, I promise,” she held up a hand.

Frigga gave a short laugh and shook her head. “I’m well enough for now,” she assured Darcy before gesturing towards the mug of hot chocolate in Darcy’s hand. “Besides, you need to drink your hot chocolate first.”

Darcy leaned back against the sofa, still grinning. “Wow so bossy. You’re definitely rocking that Mom card aren’t you?” she asked with just a flicker of emotion behind her eyes as she spoke.

“I rather think you’ll be ‘rocking that Mom card’ in time,” Frigga mused, “as you so charmingly put it,” she added with a twinkle in her eye.

At that, Darcy didn’t respond. Instead she pressed her lips together in a polite smile and brought the mug of hot chocolate to her lips.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Asgard was beautiful at sunset, Frigga had always found, ever since she been a girl. She’d only been thirty when she’d travelled across from Alfheim to live in Asgard. She had left a world of fields, farmhouses and forests for a triumphant city of gold and power. It had been overwhelming at that age and for a moment, Frigga felt a small shiver of those feelings return to her again as she stepped away from the Bifrost.

“Are you well, your majesty?” Heimdall spoke quietly from his renewed position at the entrance to the observatory. Frigga smiled across at her watchman. It had been her idea to Heimdall and he’d never given her any cause or reason to regret her decision. He was an honourable and kind man. The kind of man that should be looking out for the realms.

“I am well,” Frigga confirmed without looking away from the majesty of the city. “It’s funny isn’t it? How our world doesn’t change but everything else moves on and develops.”

“Are you referring to Loki’s child?” Heimdall questioned respectfully.

Frigga smiled a little. “Right now it’s Darcy’s child. My son has yet to earn the right for that child to be considered his,” she admitted.

The watchman began to walk towards her slowly, one hand on the belt at his hip and the other rested lightly on the opposing wrist as he moved. “Do you believe he can still earn that right?” he asked as he stepped next to her. His gaze was constant and neutral. It was a refreshing change to have someone discuss Loki like that instead of with a voice full of hatred and judgement.

“I don’t know, it’s not really up to me,” Frigga answered, meeting his gaze with her own. “I suppose that will be up to Loki. It won’t be easy though. Many people have already decided that he is beyond saving,” she reflected.

Heimdall’s voice remained impartial. “Those people are not his mother, not his family. You know Loki best, your majesty.”

A lightness took over Frigga’s expression and she smiled over at him. “Heimdall, do you think we are ever going to get to a point where you can call me Frigga?” she wondered.

The ghost of a smile echoed her own on the watchman’s lips. “Perhaps one day,” he answered quietly.

“One day,” Frigga repeated with some amusement. “I would very much like that ‘one day’ to make an appearance soon, hm?” she suggested. It was the tiniest movement but she saw that his smile deepened. It made her own smile widen in response though Heimdall didn’t seem to be taking much notice of that. Ironically.

“We shall see, your majesty,” Heimdall answered slowly and Frigga rolled her eyes with a degree of affection.

“You know Heimdall,” she remarked. “Sometimes I think you’re impossible,” she told him as she looked away and began to move towards the palace.

“That is what some say,” he agreed aloud, his voice following her.

She laughed as she walked before her gaze flickered to the sky and she  thought once more about the human girl on Midgard and the challenges that she was facing. She had promised the girl Asgard’s support of the child and that, at least, she could offer. As for anything more, and more was what she wanted to give, there were too many factors to consider before offering any kind of promise there. But Frigga would talk to Odin first. There was much to discuss with him and not just the matter of Darcy and the baby but of matters far more personal.

Primarily any chance of rehabilitating Loki for good.


	8. Family Time Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frigga is determined to get to the bottom of the family issues. But will anyone else be ready to delve into the past?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have taken some of the comments on board from the last chapter. Darcy used the word 'killer' in the more pedantic way. In the same sense that euthanasia (however justified) is, from a pedantic point of view, 'killing'. This doesn't mean she associates people who choose to have abortions in the same context as people who kill their peers, elders or born children. In fact, my headcanon for Darcy is that she doesn't judge other people for having abortions. She's more concerned about whether she herself could get past making that choice.
> 
> But I understand why you might have assumed she was deliberately inferring that anyone who aborts a child is Satan. Now I respect other people's views on the matter. I don't judge on either side of that particular argument. But characters aren't always going to have opinions/feelings that are necessarily politically/morally correct or that everyone agrees with. The intention of that line wasn't to make anyone who has been in that situation feel bad. Your choices and your feelings are your business. However if you're not comfortable reading the story any further, that's your decision.

_Two days later_

“Mother, you are telling me that Loki has gotten Darcy pregnant?” Thor repeated for the second time, in what could only be described as even more incredulous than the first time he had repeated it. His face contorted with confusion and anger. The two emotions seemed to do battle across his features. His eyes were constantly painted in bewilderment but his cheeks flushed and paled alternately. His jaw remained slackened and he directed his looks between Frigga who walked at his side, and Odin who strode ahead, like the idea to visit the dungeons had been his idea and not Frigga’s. Frigga had no issue with this - Odin had to look like the one coming up with the ideas. It was stupid male pride but it paled to insignificance in the grand scheme of things.

“He has,” Frigga answered her son, keeping her eyes on the opening dungeon doors.

Thor increased his pace, charging forwards a little more and now training his gaze on his mother. “How can he have done? He has been in prison for at least a year.”

“The Convergence allowed it to happen,” Frigga explained quickly, lowering her voice as they entered the still, silent halls of the prisoners. “Darcy appeared in Loki’s cell and then-”

“ _Loki raped her?_ ” Thor hissed, his whole expression transforming to rage in a second. “Then my brother is indeed lost. Wait until I get my hands on him-”

“Thor no!” Frigga turned as she walked, stopping herself and grabbing her son’s arm with a grip that seemed to surprise too, enough for him to stumble to a stop. “Loki did no such thing. The act was consensual.”

And so Thor was back to confused again. “How can that be? She surely knows who he is. She has access to Shield files.”

Frigga shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t claim to know what happened between them. Only what has come out of their union.”

“Mother, Loki is manipulative. If he coaxed her into this-” Thor began to protest.

“He didn’t,” Frigga insisted with a note of fierceness in her eyes. “Darcy confirmed it before I returned the other night.” She looked back towards the dungeons as they followed Odin. “I had to be sure that my son wasn’t completely lost to us.”

Thor’s shoulders had relaxed somewhat but he was still frowning deeply. He remained silent as they followed Odin through the maze of cells and prisoners. The King of Asgard walked forwards resolutely, not looking at any prisoners as he did, remaining completely focused on their goal, seeking out Loki. Sometimes it hurt, to see him so cold, Frigga thought to herself, especially when her youngest son mirrored that coldness behind a mask of pain. She and Odin had played their part in how Loki had turned out but whether Odin would admit it was quite another matter entirely.

The small group rounded the corner to Loki’s cell where Odin came to a complete stop. Frigga, however, didn’t stop and walked up closer towards the cell. Thor stopped next to his father. Frigga resisted a sigh; in so many ways, Thor was the mould of his father but there was still hope for him. Her attention shifted to the son beyond the golden crackle of the cell entrance.

Loki occupied a corner of the cell, sat with his long legs stretched out as he flicked through one of the pages on his books. However the movement near his cell caught his attention. He looked upwards towards his mother, his eyes hardened and icy. They softened just a little when they settled on Frigga but as soon as he caught sight of Odin and Thor behind her, his eyes narrowed a little and his features twisted into disdain. _Maybe I should have come alone._ Frigga thought to herself for the briefest moment.

The dark haired Prince tossed the book to one side and elegantly rose to his feet, looking down towards his family with a deepening frown.

Instead of addressing him first, Frigga flicked her wrist and a doorway appeared in the cell. She moved to enter it but suddenly Odin was stepping through first, followed by Thor. Frigga rolled her eyes and stepped through after them, sealing the cell behind them.

“My my,” Loki taunted coldly, “this is quite the family gathering. What could I possibly have done to earn the honour?”

“You know what you have done,” Frigga told him as she walked forwards to complete the half circle of those stood facing Loki. “You knew Darcy was pregnant the moment you read my mind, that day. You have yet to perfect the art of going unnoticed through _my_ mind, Loki.”

The God of Mischief stiffened a little though his face remained impassive as he met his mother’s eyes. “I was not particularly concerned whether you knew or not,” he countered. “Is this what this is about? Her child?” he looked towards Odin and Thor before his gaze flickered back to Odin. A stony level of hatred lit up his eyes. “I bet this is a particular nuisance for you, Odin Allfather. We all know how much you despise Jotunns.”

Odin took a slow step towards his son. His expression wasn’t fierce but dull and tired. “I am not the one who hates Jotunns, Loki. If you are looking for someone who is, perhaps we should invest in getting a mirror furnished in here.”

Loki let out an ugly laugh. “Says the man who raised me in a lie for a purpose, unprepared to tell me of my true heritage until it would be useful.”

“I knew if the truth about you came out, you would never be truly accepted by our society,” Odin told him. “I was trying to spare you that. We both were,” he added looking towards Frigga briefly.

“Loki, you were never loved any less for being Jotunn,” Frigga told her son, ignoring Odin’s look for now. 

The dark haired Prince immediately scoffed. “I think we both know that’s not true, Mother,” he directed his gaze towards Odin again who met his gaze with a silent steeliness.

“If I had not loved you, Loki, I would never have taken you in as my own. I would have found another family to raise you.”

“A family with the same penchant for dishonesty, I suppose?” Loki sneered. “I needn’t have asked that. Of course they would have kept their mouths shut.”

“Loki,” Frigga stepped up to her son and took his arm. “I understand where you are coming from. Thor has always been the more revered prince by the people-”

“It’s not about _the people!_ ” Loki snapped, yanking his arm away from her. “It’s about the lies that,” here he jerked a finger at Odin, “that _this man_ tells. About being fair to his family when we both know he’s always favoured Thor. It’s much easier to love your own, isn’t it, Odin?”

Odin now looked visibly uncomfortable. “Your actions in the past two years have made it very diffic-”

“This is _not_ about the last two years and you know it,” Loki was practically snarling now. “You came down here for some answers, I assume. Well I wouldn’t mind a few of them myself. You have been so quick to bury me down here but you’re not prepared to answer for the lies you told.”

“I have answered,” Odin told him. “Asgard has answered for what you’ve been through,” he added coldly. “This was a family matter and you have taken it out on everyone else, Loki. Where is the justice in that?” He stepped closer to his son. “Jotunheim, I could understand. I will never condone what you did but I could understand it. But what about Midgard? Attacking with the Chitauri, what did they _ever_ do to earn your wrath, Loki?”

Silence followed his statement. Loki seemed to lose some colour in his cheeks though his expression remained as furious and as snarling as before. Next to Odin, Thor was looking distinctly uncomfortable now. Frigga caught his gaze in her own and lightly jerked her head towards Loki. He simply shrugged in response and shook his head. Clearly he was unwilling to get involved and right now, Frigga could only look between her husband and other son. Maybe this was what they needed. Or maybe it was just going to get nasty.

“Your powers of deflection are extraordinary,” Loki murmured. “But you still haven’t answered for why you really kept me. Don’t lie and say it was for love. Your favoured Thor, you wanted to use me as a puppet and you were just as quick to drop me after my crimes. Thor would have started a war in Jotunheim and yet he is merely banished. His actions came from a sulky strop at not being king. My actions…” Loki began to scoff. “I rather think centuries of being lied to and passed over in favour of the golden boy is a stronger reasoning. But of course, I’m not really your son, am I? So you don’t have to bother trying to understand. Especially when it’s your fault. So why do that when you can just give Thor the easier ride?

Frigga brought a hand to her mouth, blinking back tears. Loki’s actions were flawed, heavily so, no matter the reasons behind them. But in this case, his logic wasn’t all that unreasonable either. He was spot on about Odin giving Thor an easier ride, not just in the sense of punishment but in the upbringing. It was partly why she had been so keen to help Loki develop his own talents. Unfortunately Odin and Thor both cast large shadows and it frustrated Frigga to realise that Odin at least still didn’t comprehend that. Thor, at least, had shown some remorse for overshadowing Loki.

“I took you in out of pity,” Odin declared and Frigga cast him an incredulous look. Was he _really_ going to start off with _that_? “But that transformed into love. I wasn’t lying when I said you were an innocent child,” Odin’s voice was steady and firm as he spoke. “Our realms had been at war for many years before then. The Jotunns have proved on more than one occasion that they would not change for the good. There may be individuals with that potential but none in a position to help their realm. A union of our kingdom through a child they had abandoned would have meant a Jotunn king with the best interests of both realms in mind. But as I brought you up, I came to deeply love you Loki, as a son just as much as Thor-”

“Please.” Loki spat. “Don’t expect me to swallow such drivel.”

“My love for both of my sons was the same,” Odin continued, his face hardening. “However I will acknowledge that I have found it easier to put my hopes in Thor. It is also Asgardian tradition for the eldest-”

“I don’t give a damn about the throne, Odin,” Loki snapped at him. “I just wanted to be Thor’s equal. But you couldn’t have that. You were incapable of treating us fairly.”

At that Odin did look momentarily wounded, his eyes glassed over briefly with hurt and surprise. But in the next second they had dimmed again and he straightened up as he faced his son. “I recognised your talents. Perhaps I should have shown it more. But you kept these feelings to yourself. If I had known-”

“Oh don’t you dare,” Loki fired back. “Don’t you dare turn this on me. I am not to blame for you playing favourites.”

“No,” Odin agreed. “It is one of the few things that you are not to blame for. But you are to blame for the deaths in the vault, letting the Jotunns into Asgard, on two separate occasions and the damage done to Midgard, twice over. You could have spoken to your mother about this while I was in Odinsleep. Not let this all breed chaos inside you. But then honesty has never been your strong suit either, Loki.”

At that, Loki’s scowl deepened so darkly that a shiver of anxiety shot through Frigga like a jolt of ice down her spine. Inwardly she cringed and fought the urge to let her frustration show on her face. Odin was not contributing to this endeavour at all. In fact the new animosity between himself and Loki was burning like a rising flame between them, only enhanced by each others’ accusations and snide remarks.

“I know I have played my part in how things have turned out,” Thor spoke from next to Odin, to his mother’s surprise. He was looking at Loki with a mixture of intensity and reflection. “I was arrogant and I was not the brother I should have been.”

“If we’re splitting hairs, we’re not brothers at all,” Loki sniped, in a low bitter tone.

His words struck against Frigga’s heart like a match against a rock, sparking a flame. “Of course you are!” she snapped at her youngest. “You have always been raised as brothers. Your father and brother have made their own mistakes, just like I have.” She trained her gaze on him even harder. “Just like you have,” she added.

“I hardly think I need reminding.”

“I think maybe you do, Loki,” Frigga told him as she stepped closer to him. “You make barbs, you gloat about your actions but I don’t think you have taken responsibility for your actions, for the lives you took.” Her son’s emerald eyes focused on her and for a moment, Frigga saw the little boy she’d taught magic too, taught the stories of Afheim’s legends, the myths of Vanaheim and the history of Niflheim. A boy who had loved to lay in her lap and listen for hours. Just for a moment, she could see that little boy in the eyes of the man he’d become. “Loki,” she continued softly. “I refuse to believe this has broken you completely. I know our son is still in there somewhere.”

Loki’s upper lip twisted. “And that is a mother’s foolish hope-” he began to say before Thor’s massive fist collided with his face, sending him crashing into the nearest wall, inches from where the glowing magic crackled away. Frigga turned towards Thor in a wordless protest but Odin was already forcing his son backwards, away from Loki.

“Thor!” Frigga admonished him.

“Forget it,” Loki muttered as he briefly held his cheek. “It is far better to know what he truly feels for me now. He doesn’t have to pretend-”

Now it was Frigga’s turn to slap him. He stumbled back several steps. But for her, his expression was totally stunned. Frigga marched forwards and grabbed him by his tunic. “You listen here, Loki Odinson,” she told him firmly. “You don’t get to decide anyone’s feelings but your own. You may choose not to think of us as family but we will _never_ stop thinking of you as ours. The people of love you come before any blood bond.”

“Well then I’m in trouble then,” Loki muttered. His eyes held her gaze with a stubborn air before they glanced towards Odin. “Somehow I doubt the rest of that’s true for all of you. You were quick to wash your hands off me at my sentencing. Very cold, Odin, very kingly. I’m impressed.”

Frigga looked towards her husband with a deep frown. She frowned as he didn’t meet her gaze. So it was true. “I’m sure your father wasn’t washing his hands off you-”

“Didn’t you wonder why he sent you out of the room?” Loki asked in an almost purring voice. “Did you not wonder?”

“Your father is very disappointed about your actions, Loki, and so am I.”

“Oh no,” Loki began to grin now. It was a horribly manic grin and Frigga didn’t like it one bit. “He didn’t tell you the real reason I was spared execution, did he?” he asked, his gaze still focused on Odin whose face was tight now. When Odin didn’t respond, Loki tilted his head. “Come now Odin, mother is the only reason I am still alive, is she not? Can you not tell her the truth?”

The colour evaporated from Frigga’s features. Something dropped in her stomach and she stepped away from Loki, turning away. “What?” she whispered.

“I did say that,” Odin spoke up calmly. He looked to Frigga. “You can look at the situation as a mother. I must be a King first and foremost. It is only as a favour to you, that I can reasonably spare him.”

Frigga turned towards her husband. “You say that like you are using my affection for Loki as an excuse to spare execution, and that is indeed one thing,” she told him as she stepped forward. “But now I’m beginning to wonder if you care anything for our son.” To her satisfaction, Odin looked shocked at her declaration but she continued to stare at him with a piercing gaze.

“You needn’t question my feelings towards our sons,” Odin told her. “I simply put my title first in such matters. And yes, I did have to use your affection for him to excuse locking him up rather than a… more permanent punishment.”

“As opposed to a lifetime sentence in prison?” Loki retorted. Frigga ignored him for now, remaining focused on Odin.

“The council are not so hard-hearted that they would not understand you wanting to keep your son alive,” Frigga murmured to her husband. “Odin, just tell me,” she began clearly, “if it was down to your judgement alone, without the influence of my affection for Loki, and you had to choose between being a king and a father - which would you have chosen?” she asked, deep frown lines spread across her face.  Silence followed her words. Loki had turned away, clearly doubtful of the answer but even Thor was looking towards his father with interest. Frigga could feel her heart rapidly beating in her chest.

Odin held her gaze, his amber-brown eyes gazing into her blue ones. The composed, firm expression began to crack and Frigga could see the glimpse of the wise but honorable King that she had married, the man who had patched Loki up when he was small and had overreached himself and gotten injured, the same man who told Loki that the stars were not the limit for people like them, that Loki could do anything he put his mind too, and the man who had been unsure if he could ever love a Jotunn child but had come to love his son quickly after a few weeks of having him. It made Frigga’s heart ache that Loki couldn’t see just how much Odin had adored him. And yet she couldn’t reconcile that man with the one who was treating Loki so coldly now.

It seemed like an age before Odin answered and his reply took Frigga’s breath away. “I would have chosen Loki,” he answered in a quiet voice. “Putting a son of mine to death was never an option,” he admitted, looking away from the relief on his wife’s face. “But using your affection for him was a way to spare him without risking the wrath of the council.”

Thor began to smile, clearly relieved. Loki, on the other hand, scowled.

“You don’t actually believe him, do you?” he looked between his mother and Thor. “Do not let yourself be taken in by his lies,” he added before his lips curled into a sneer. “Or do,” he snapped, “it’s your pride,” he added, shaking his head. “If you want to look like fools then go ahead.”

“Your father can’t lie today,” Frigga addressed her son before reaching across to the left sleeve of Odin’s robe and pulling it upwards. On his left wrist, thick ink wrapped around his wrist like a tattoo; parallel lines with swirling, circular patterns inside them, like a bracelet. She watched Loki’s gaze intensify for a second.

The raven haired man looked at Odin with a growing frown. “You applied the Rune of Sacred Truths?” he confirmed before his features twisted. “I’m amazed it isn’t choking you.”

Frigga glared at Loki. “Loki that’s enough.” She gestured to Odin and Thor. “We are all here because we have gone far too long without talking as a family. Without talking about everything that’s happened, with all of us,” she looked at her husband and other son as she finished. “Every one of us has contributed to the way that this family has turned out and we need to deal with that.”

“If we can,” Odin added. Frigga shot him a frustrated look.

“Darcy Lewis is pregnant with Loki’s child. Do we want that child to be born into a family this fractured? Without doing anything to change it?”

Loki stiffened, his facial features tightening as the remaining colour in his face drained from it. He met his mother’s look but she could read in his face that he already knew about the baby. So that was why he’d given Darcy the money. He was providing for her. Frigga’s lips quirked into a smile as hope began to blossom in her chest. She looked towards her husband who was also frowning but there was a look in his eyes that she didn’t expect - guilt. It flickered weakly there, before being clouded over. Thor just looked uncertain about the whole thing, reaching up to rub the back of his neck.

“This is a mess,” he agreed.

Loki arched an eyebrow at him. “Thank you for that astute observation.”

Thor scowled. “I do not see you taking any steps to remedy it.”

“It was not I who is at the root of this,” Loki pointed out. “You and Father are.”

Frigga held up both of her hands sharply. “Enough! This family is at the root of the problem and everyone has contributed to how things have turned out.” She waved a hand and suddenly a selection of golden chairs, each cushioned in blue-violet velvet appeared in a circle, to the right of the group. “I do not wish my grandchild to become another player in this game of discontent and hate. So we are going to continue to hash this out together.”

“What do you expect to come of this, my love?” Odin addressed her calmly. “Things cannot go back to the way they used to be.”

“No,” Frigga agreed before taking one of the seats. “But that doesn’t mean that they can’t improve.”

“Hear hear,” Thor declared, taking the seat opposite his mother. “We cannot go on as we are. Not without talking properly.”

“Hark at he who once prized action against any kind of conversation,” Loki scoffed. However he took the seat next to his mother.

Odin took the seat between Frigga and Thor and he leaned back, looking towards Frigga. “It seems to me,” he declared, “that perhaps I shouldn’t be the only one wearing this Rune. If we really want to get everything out in the open.”

Loki’s eyes narrowed at the suggestion but Thor seemed to consider it. Frigga held out her right wrist before summoning a rune stencil - a long, thin instrument - and handed it to her husband. “Then you can start with me. I have nothing to hide from this family.”

Thor gave a nod. “Very well, I will also accept the Rune.” He looked to Loki, brows furrowing together. “What about you, brother?”

Loki met his gaze with still narrowed eyes. “And there’s the assumption that I wouldn’t,” he drawled.

“You can hardly blame Thor for asking.” Odin remarked. “You have made it a habit to resist cooperation where it is good for you.”

Loki’s frown deepened into a scowl. “I will take the Rune,” he spoke to Thor without removing his gaze from Odin. “But see where the truth gets you. After all it must be such a terrifying thing considering you felt the need to resist it for all of these years.”

Annoyance coloured Odin’s features. “Do you not get bored, Loki? Of playing the same tune each time.”

“This issue is one of many that we must face together,” Frigga explained as she interrupted them. Once she and Thor had been marked, she turned towards Loki and offered the stencil. “Let me?”

Loki frowned even harder than before but after a moment he offered his wrist for the rune. It sent another trickle of hope through the Queen of Asgard’s veins that he directly offered his wrist to her, that after all that he had said and done, he still gave her the chance to help him. She fought back a smile as she looked into his expression. It didn’t change but somehow the look in his eyes seemed softer when he looked at her. Frigga gently traced the instrument along his skin, taking in a deep breath as she watched the lines take hold sharper in his skin than in the wrists of the others. Magic was stronger in his Jotunn blood because of the Frost Giant’s natural affinity for freezing magic. Asgardians had no natural magic in their blood. It was a gift that had to be taught.

Once she’d applied the rune, she felt Loki pull away and she suppressed the flicker of hurt. Instead she pocketed the stencil.

She looked around at the gathered group, waiting for the new runes to take effect, and for a moment she dared to hope that maybe, somehow, her family might just come out of this room ready to be rebuilt, ready to be whole again.

She hoped so with all of her heart.


	9. Families that talk together...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Odinson family finally begin to talk while on Earth Darcy tries to adjust to her new future.

“Darcy, the signal there is really bad,” Jane Foster complained over the crackling Skype call. From what Darcy could see of her former employer, Jane was sat at the desk in her mom’s living room. She was dressed in a black, power suit which Darcy guessed meant that Jane had either just returned from some super science conference or was on her way out. Either way, she didn’t feel inclined to bring it up in case Jane launched into a massive rant about science babble and Darcy had to pretend to understand and care. She was thrilled that Jane’s career had taken off after the Convergence but if she had to listen to one more lecture about astrophysics…

“Yeah we have a storm right now,” Darcy explained. She reclined on the sofa with a mug of coffee in her hands, lovely and steaming. Yay for Asgardian pregnancies being unaffected by coffee and wine. Not that she’d had any of the latter. It felt strange to be drinking while pregnant. Coffee on the other hand, well Darcy was going to reclaim that treat as much as she could. She took another sip from the mug, sighing softly as she did. At least Frigga’s visit several days ago had given her some plus points to this pregnancy.

It was actually quite pleasant watching the storm from her lounge. The huge windows looking out over the garden combined with the high position of the house gave her an excellent view of the dark clouds looming over the mountains and lake. The waters reflected a dark grey with light dancing over it from the light between the clouds. The trees swayed back and forth with the powerful winds and the trimmed grass on her lawn rustled with each gust.

“We?” Jane repeated.

Shit, Darcy rebuked herself, not having meant to unwittingly include the baby in this. “I meant… you know, people around here.”

“Right,” Jane responded. “Speaking of which, why are you living so far out of town? Didn’t take you for a hermit, Darcy.” Darcy could hear the light laugh to Jane’s tone as well as some clumping footsteps in the background. She smiled, distracted by the sound.

“Is that Thor?”

“No, Erik’s just putting together some equipment,” Jane explained. “And don’t think I didn’t notice the subject swerve.”

“I’m not,” Darcy shrugged. “I just fell in love with the house and, you know, not working means more Netflix time.”

Jane laughed openly this time. “So you can drool over Colin O’Donoghue in Once Upon A Time.”

Darcy snorted. “Of course. Is there any other past time worth having?” she grinned a little. “For those of us who don’t have a hunk of a god to come home to,” she added with a shake of her head. Jane’s silence told Darcy that the scientist was probably blushing which only amused the former intern.

“Thor’s away actually,” Jane’s voice was a little quiet. “He’s gone back to Asgard for some family trouble.”

Something squirmed inside Darcy’s stomach. “Family trouble?”

“Yeah, I don’t know what’s going on but Thor says it’s something really important.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What I told you before was the truth,” Odin told Loki across the circle. “Every last word of it.”

“Unless you’ve managed to navigate around the rune,” Loki was leaning forwards as he countered the admission with a slight, unpleasant smile playing on his lips. However it dropped and he straightened up. “It doesn’t matter. The truth is that you’ve always found it easy to cast me to one side and cheer on golden boy.” He didn’t look in Thor’s direction but the older god’s face twitched as he listened. “You can’t help but play favourites.”

Odin looked down at his worn, time-wearied hands and exhaled softly. “I suppose I have favoured Thor too often,” he conceded. “And I agree that that wasn’t fair, as you are both my sons.”

Suddenly Loki let out a laugh. “Is it like having your teeth pulled out? Telling the truth,” he taunted him.

Odin suddenly looked up at him, his gaze fierce. “I have admitted that I favoured Thor. Maybe he was easier to bond with, because we have more in common,” he continued, his voice tightening in edge. “But you forget how much you and I have in common, Loki.”

“You and I have nothing in common,” Loki spat.

“Oh you might believe that,” Odin continued. “But like me, my son, you have a penchant for manipulation and making the most of every opportunity.” Despite the fact that Loki was now scowling, Odin carried on regardless, “Heimdall told me everything after you had fallen and you may choose to forget it but I have watched you turn into the man you are today. You were a mischievous child, taking advantages and opportunities where you could. Just like me.”

“I am _nothing_ like you,”  Loki hissed as he leaned forwards again. “ _Nothing_.”

“I don’t know, Loki,” Thor mused quietly. “You and father are very alike. And not just with manipulation. You are both gifted and wise. Or at least you were,” he added, with a frown at Loki. “You are much more considerate than I ever was.” He raised his chin. “Sometimes I think you’re both too considerate, not quick enough to take action.”

Loki scoffed. “Are you seriously making that argument after the war you nearly started on Jotunheim?”

“It’s not like you can make any argument given what you tried to do to Jotunheim,” Thor countered. “My point is,” he argued before Loki could counter again, “is that you and father share traits, both good and bad.”

“That’s nurture,” Frigga added. “I don’t see anything of Laufey in you.”

“I must admit,” Odin declared, bringing a fist to his mouth, sliding a finger across his lips. “This wildness you’ve been showing, this reckless disregard for mortal lives and the damage you have done, _that_ reminds me of Laufey.”

Frigga shot her husband a furious look. “Odin, that is not helping.”

“You wanted honesty, Frigga. My words are not meant to upset, merely to observe.” He returned his gaze to Loki who was now scowling viciously at him. “My son, you have shown the same violent intentions towards the Midgardians and the Jotunns as Laufey and his people showed to Midgard and Asgard years ago.”

“I guess I’m just letting the true monster reveal itself then,” Loki’s voice was full of bitterness and his green eyes sparkled for a moment. “It sounds to me like you have written me off.”

“No,” Odin spoke before Frigga had a chance to answer. “No. As your King, I must punish you because you cannot be allowed to move on, unchallenged for the devastation on Midgard.” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he faced his youngest son who met his gaze with a fierce, stubborn, reluctance. “As your father, I have to consider why you took the actions you did.” He looked towards Thor and then Frigga. “I regret that it has taken this long for us all to come together to deal with what happened two years ago.”

“We all played a part,” Frigga murmured, “in how all of this turned out.”

“I should have been a better brother,” Thor murmured, his eyes searching out Loki’s who met them for a second before he looked away. “I was so arrogant, so sure of my own importance. I should have made every effort to let my brother know he was just as important. You were probably a better candidate for the throne.”

Loki shook his head with a growl. “It’s as if you don’t listen. I never craved the throne like you did. I just wanted to be your equal, to be considered as though I had an equal opportunity.” He glared at Thor. “It is your similarities to Odin that have led us here.”

“No.” This time both Frigga and Odin spoke at once.

“You cannot blame Thor for the decisions you made,” Frigga told her youngest son firmly. “Whatever inspired them, it was-”

“Whatever inspired them?” Loki repeated in a quiet voice. “You say that like you have absolutely no idea, Mother,” his voice was like shards of ice, splintered and deadly, each point driving home with each syllable. He ran a hand over the rune on his wrist. “Centuries of deception and years of being the lesser son,” he spoke the words with a low bitterness, “will do that to you. Besides,” he looked around at the circle, “I did nothing that wasn’t deserved.”

“Thor’s friends,” Odin spoke up. “Did they deserve the attack on them on Midgard?”

Loki’s expression darkened. “They disobeyed an order from their king.” However his words held a flatness to them and the gleam in his eye flickered away as he slowly blinked. “They were never going to accept my guardianship of the throne. They couldn’t see that you were banished for a good reason,” he directed his last remark at Thor whose lips pursed angrily as he processed his brother’s words.

“They were trying to support me. It was just as well they had after the lies that you told me about father and mother,” he pointed out to Loki.

“I was angry with you, Thor,” Loki told him coldly. “I was angry at you for years. Such a waste of time,” he told him. He made to continue speaking and yet suddenly his lips seemed to clamp together, unwillingly. He struggling to speak around it and Frigga sighed.

“Even you are not immune to the prevention of dishonesty, Loki,” she told him gently. “We must proceed with the truth.”

“And what good is that really going to do us?” Loki questioned. “It’s too late to undo anything. What’s done is done,” he added fiercely.

Frigga raised her head. “We can heal, at last,” she declared to them all.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I bet it’s beautiful over there,” Jane mused down the phone to Darcy. “I heard Alaska is stunning.”

“It’s pretty gorgeous, yeah,” Darcy smiled around the rim of her mug. “It’s so peaceful. Reminds me of being back in New Mexico,” she reflected. “Except cooler.”

“New Mexico was way too hot, even in summer,” Jane sighed.

“And then we swapped that for rainy London,” Darcy scoffed a little. “After Tronso,” she recalled.

“At least it was cool in both of those places.”

“Noisy as hell. My eardrums are still recovering.”

“You think that’s noisy? Try living in New York. Now that’s the sleepless city.”

“Which is why I moved here and not to a big noisy metropolis,” Darcy scoffed a little.

She could practically hear Jane grin down the phone. “I really never had you down for the quiet, country type,” she mused. “Especially since you’re never quiet,” she added with a slight laugh.

“Rude,” Darcy responded. “Just rude.”

“You know, I’d love to stop by some time, next time I’m back in the U.S,” Jane suggested, “it’s a little strange not having you around.”

“So you miss me?”

“Ahh, I wouldn’t say-”

“You miss me.”

“You haven’t been gone long enou-”

“You miss me,” Darcy smirked around the rim of her cup, knowing when an argument was won.

“Don’t rub it in, Lewis,” Jane muttered before sighing. “But fine, I miss you.”

“I knew it.” Darcy grinned. “I miss our DVD nights,” she admitted after a moment. “And watching you viciously correct those documentaries on the science channel.”

“Those people are supposed to know what they’re talking about!” Jane’s voice rose many octaves, causing Darcy to yank the phone away from her ear in protest.

“Erm Jane… can you keep your voice in a human range please?”

“That documentary on wormholes was just laughable. I mean really-”

“Jane, Jane, Jane!” Darcy quickly interrupted. “No science babble, please?”

There was a long pause as her friend seemed to debate on whether the subject was worth dropping but eventually Darcy heard the scientist laugh a little. “Ok fair deal.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Your father and I lied to you for a very long time,” Frigga addressed her youngest son with a frown. “And in hindsight, we should never have deceived you for so long - if we had known the damage that would be done.”

“We honestly thought it would be easier on you to grow up without being judged for the colour of your skin, for a biological father who had abandoned you.”

Loki snorted softly. “Whereas you’re father of the year.”

“I’m not that,” Odin answered quietly. He looked tired, Frigga thought to herself. Maybe it was too soon after all the stress of the Convergence. She’d been trying to coax him back into Odinsleep for a number of weeks now but her husband was nearly as stubborn as her youngest was. “But I didn’t set out to make you feel second best, or that I loved Thor anymore.”

“Don’t bother pretending.”

“I cannot pretend for that also is lying technically,” Odin answered, looking down at the inked band around his wrist. “I am sorry for the role that I played. I thought it would be kinder to lie but I was wrong,” he told him. “I can see the damage it has done. But you should never doubt that I have loved being your father and I don’t regret saving you from death on Jotunheim. You deserved better than what you were born into.”

“And whatever you might think,” Thor leaned forward in his chair. “The life you have had with us has been filled with many pleasant memories.”

“Oh yes, years of being overshadowed, ostracised by others because I’m different,” Loki muttered.

“Loki, if you really think about it, you know that we have had many wonderful memories as a family.” Frigga added.

Loki inhaled hard, his face contorting like he was going to say something. But once more the rune prevented him from actually saying anything. He pressed his lips together thinly and looked away from the group for a moment. “That might be so but that time has gone. You decreed it yourself,” he turned towards Odin, his gaze cold, “I am to spend the rest of my days in the dungeon.”

Odin didn’t even blink. “That is the sentence you were given,” he agreed. He looked towards his wife. “But sentences can be changed at the discretion of a king, provided the offender proves to be worthy of a second chance.”

“Or,” Thor added unhelpfully, “in your case, many more.”

Loki scowled at his brother but he refocused his gaze on Odin again. “Technically,” he replied, “that may be true. But I see no reason why you would honour that. After all, I am the monster that parents tell their children about at night, the monster who attacked Jotunheim and Midgard,” he finished. “Why would you unleash that on Asgard again? As a king?”

Frigga opened her mouth to speak but Odin raised a hand, giving her a gently, cautious look. “It’s true that what you did was devastating all around.” He looked towards Thor and Frigga. “While the truths that came to light may have played a part in what happened, they don’t justify or explain why you took things that far,” he remarked, “especially as you claim that you didn’t want the throne. Why then, was it so important that you take over Midgard?”

Loki blanched for a moment, staring at Odin before his features smoothed over. “My reasons are my own.”

“Then your freedom will never be earned, my son.” Odin told him simply. “Which is all the more strange because you have always acted in your best interests and not giving us these answers is not serving your best interest.”

“Loki, even with the revelation, your sudden violence towards Midgard doesn’t make sense.” Frigga added.

“Have you ever considered that being told you were only taken in so that you could be groomed to become a King of a land that our people hate, might have had something to do with that?” Loki snapped. “You wanted to unite our realms,” he addressed Odin again, “but you let prejudice plague Asgard. If things had gone to plan and I would have been planted on the throne, I would have been despised by our people especially when the truth came out.” Suddenly he laughed coldly. “Though I don’t suppose my latest actions have endeared me any further.”

Odin bowed his head. “It was a hope I had, not an all consuming ambition. If that was the case I’d have had you raised elsewhere. I wanted you in my family because I cared about you, Loki.”

“You have always seen yourself above mindless violence,” Thor finished. “It doesn’t make sense that you’d wage such a bloody attack for reasons that you denied having on Asgard.”

There was a personal animosity to the scowl that Loki gave his brother, as though Thor had guessed astutely. He pursed his lips again but this time Frigga could see that it was a voluntary action - he was choosing to keep quiet about this. It only tugged on her growing frustration. If he could only get past his pride then they could help him, or at least try and understand him further.

“Please Loki,” Frigga leaned forward and took hold of her son’s hand. She felt him resist, moving his hand away and yet not far enough to lose her grip. “Please give us these answers, because we need them. We need to understand why you did what you did. I cannot give up on you.”

“Perhaps you might, if you knew the truth,” Loki whispered back to her.

“You’re already seen as a mass-murdering invader of Midgard and attacker of Jotunheim,” Thor pointed out. “What could possibly be worse?”

Loki began to smirk, amused at Thor’s turn of phrase. “Well when you put it like that….”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Darcy put her now silent phone to one side and tilted her head back against the back of the couch. Late afternoon darkness was beginning to fall and so Darcy watched the grey sky become tinted with the blue of evening and the promises of dreams. She played with the blanket that was wrapped around her legs and sighed as she observed the clouds slowly crossing the horizon.

In a few months she’d be showing. The baby would be growing inside her, depending on her for a life of security and responsibility. Relying on her to be the consistent parent she’d never had herself. That’s when everything would really change. The pregnancy was different; Darcy still had her freedom, decisions she could make without worrying about the baby. Sure, there were fewer options for her but still, there was more freedom now than before the baby was born.

 _What if I can_ _’t be enough for you?_ She thought to her child. _No one taught me how to be a good mom. What if I mess you up? I_ _’m sorry._ She swallowed hard and clutched the blanket tighter around her. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine her child - what it might look like. But every time she closed her eyes, she saw a blank whiteness at first and then a dark shadowy shape that eerily reflected the image of the scan photo from the ultrasound. The images slipped away from her mind like water down a sink, replaced by a more disturbing thought - _what if this child is like him? Full of hate and revenge? What if he finds a way to get to the baby and corrupt it_ _…?_

Darcy pushed those thoughts violently away. It was clear on Asgard that Loki wasn’t getting out of the cell or any kind of parole anytime soon. He was pretty secure there - she was just being stupid. She rubbed her stomach lightly, thoughtfully.

Frigga had said these feelings of being terrified and unprepared were natural but Darcy couldn’t help but wonder if the depth of her feelings were natural. It’s not like she’d given Frigga the full extent of her fears. Maybe the Queen of Asgard thought she was having a wobble. But what if it was something more. Darcy didn’t even feel remotely excitement or loving about this child. It felt like the child was a stranger that had suddenly sprouted up in her body and declared that Darcy was now supposed to take care of it. The thought gave Darcy the shivers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“How did you survive the fall from the Bifrost?” Odin was the first to ask. “That is a feat that would have killed any one of us, even Jotunns. How did you manage it? Was it your magic?”

Loki’s emerald eyes darkened as he contemplated Odin’s answer. “If I had been able to use my magic to get out of that situation,” he began slowly and angrily, “none of you would have seen me for dust,” he confirmed. “I would be far away from here by now.” After the last admission, Loki’s lips pursed together and he frowned deeply. The rune of sacred truth seemed to darken against his skin, as though pressing his honesty forward. “As for my survival,” Loki spoke after a moment, “you will have to credit Thanos for that.”

“Who is Thanos?” Thor asked. Odin, on the other hand, completely stiffened. Out of the corner of her eye, Frigga saw that he’d gone as white as a sheet. Catching her eye, Thor followed her gaze and looked towards his father. “Who is he?” he asked again, with a little more force in his tone.

“Are you absolutely sure it was Thanos?” Odin demanded of Loki, ignoring Thor for now.

Loki scoffed. “I spent the best part of a year in his…” here Loki paused, “hospitality. There’s no faking that power or his presence especially to that scale.”

“Who is Thanos?” Thor repeated impatiently.

Odin sighed deeply. “He is a dangerous Titan. I would have hoped his days were over but I suppose the death of someone like him would spread around the universe. He is a madman but an enigma. Few of us in Asgard and the Nine Realms know of him.”

“I knew of a few rumours about him,” Loki remarked, “I thought they must be just stories. Stories by over-enthusiastic students or fiction fanatics.”

It was Odin’s turn to scoff now. “If only that were so. We’re not that lucky,” he remarked.

“He sounds powerful and dangerous, I agree,” Frigga spoke up, having been processing everything that was being said. “But what I want to know is what he wanted with you, Loki. Why would he save you?”

Loki laughed again, another callous noise. “Save me,” he repeated quietly. “Yes that was what he called it too.” He looked towards his mother and the rune pulsed against his wrist again, forcing the words from his pursed lips. “Thanos likes to collect people - fashion them for his uses.” He clasped his hands together between his knees, resting his elbows on his legs. “Why do anything yourself when you can have puppets?”

“So you were his errand boy?” Thor speculated. “And then he gave you the Chitauri so you could take over Earth.”

“You over-estimate his generosity, Thor. One doesn’t stop being Thanos’ puppet.”

“I don’t understand why you’d let anyone make you one of their puppets,” Odin asked. “You never have done before.”

Loki’s lips tightened so much that his face seemed to grimace in pain. He sucked in a very deep breath and raised his chin. He squirmed again, clearly resisting the pull of the rune to answer.

“Loki,” Frigga spoke sharply. “The rune will make you talk anyway. Just tell us.”

He scowled in her direction. “Your assumptions imply that I had a choice in the matter,” he finally answered. “Would you want to admit to that? To having a choice taking out of your hands. Well,” he paused and raised one delicate finger, “there was one choice I was given, if you can even call it that.” He gave them all an unpleasant smile. “Thanos and the people he works with are masters of pain. In fact, they specialise in taking things beyond pain,” he explained. “They make torture as we know it, look like child’s play and they are very good at keeping it up for hundreds of years. I have seen the evidence on the people they kept,” he explained. “A life living like that until death eventually comes into play, or a life where one submits to his will.”

“So you chose to live,” Odin replied.

“Not at first,” Loki murmured. “To live with someone pulling at your strings… well I’d already had enough of that.”

Frigga tensed up immediately, covering her mouth with one hand. “So he tortured you.”

“His subordinates did, sometimes. Sometimes they would leave me for days and weeks without any contact with anyone, then they would return. They liked to mix up their techniques,” he informed his family. “Thanos played on the issues I had come there with and he made sure to reopen them, constantly.”

Thor began to growl. “He will be very sorry he did that.”

Loki let out a laugh. “I admire your confidence but not even you could take on Thanos.” He ignored Thor’s scowl and continued. “To give Thanos credit where credit is due, his instruments and his mind games were… impressive. But it still took him nearly a year to break me.”

Odin sucked in a breath. “From what I’ve heard of his methods myself, you held out extraordinarily well.”

“So I was told,” Loki agreed bitterly. “Still, it wasn’t enough. But then again, who has the power to fight against the stone of the sceptre.”

Thor rose to his feet. “The stone was used on you?” he questioned. He looked towards Odin and Frigga. “That stone was used to control the minds of many on Midgard during the attack. I thought that perhaps it only worked on humans but if it worked on Loki…”

“… and only after a long period of torture,” Odin began to follow his son’s train of thought. “We are going to have to look into this. Do you know if the sceptre is on Midgard?” he asked Thor.

“Somewhere. The Avengers and I are still looking.”

Loki scoffed but said nothing. Frigga meanwhile, sat in deep thought for several long moments before she spoke again. “It may be an infinity stone,” she mused. When the three men looked in her direction, she straightened up. “It all adds up. A gem with the power to shape minds, even well protected ones like Loki’s.” She looked towards her youngest son. “You said not to overestimate Thanos’ generosity. In which case why would he give you an entire planet to rule over? Or hand the sceptre over to you?” She then looked to Thor. “You found out that the deal was the tesseract in exchange for the earth, did you not?”

“Yes, mother.”

“Was that the case?” Frigga asked Loki.

He hesitated before replying but the rune’s power won out. “Yes.”

“Then that tells us a great deal.” Frigga leaned forward in her seat. “Thanos is clearly after infinity stones. It is easier to locate other stones if you already possess one. That would explain why the sceptre was given to Loki. The gem would be useful in bending any opposition as well as indicating the proximity of another stone.”

“If Thanos is after the stones, he will want to take control of the universe.” Odin spoke up next. “He will come for the Earth eventually.”

“Of course he would have.” Loki agreed sharply. “As if he would ever give positions of real power to his puppets. It’s an idea that he allows those who serve him to indulge him. What he gives, he can easily take away-” he suddenly broke off as Frigga reached over to stroke his wrist.

She took a long, drawn in, breath though her voice still shook as she spoke. “Monsters like that play games. But it will be what gets them killed.”

Thor stroked his chin as he began to pace the room. “Shield need to know the truth. That Loki was the front man, that he was controlled like the others-”

“Do not put me in that league!” Loki snapped. “I wasn’t a complete mindless slave,” he growled.

“Loki, you said it yourself,” Odin pointed out. “You didn’t want Asgard’s throne, just equality. It’s a large jump from that to taking over a realm.”

“I was furious with Asgard,” Loki countered. “Thanos didn’t need to completely control me to capitalise on that,” he pointed out. “The titan doesn’t just control people completely. He knows how to toy with your darkest emotions and let them drive you on. So, no, I wasn’t completely controlled.”

“No, what happened to you was just as bad,” Frigga declared. “You were manipulated-”

“ENOUGH!” Loki suddenly shouted, rising to his feet. “Stop making excuses. I’m not some gullible, naive child. I knew what I was doing.”

“I think that’s debatable,” Odin added as he got up too, standing next to Thor, “the fact that you’re so embarrassed about it, says a lot. Well,” he added turning to Thor. “Thor and I will look into this. If Thanos is out there then no realm is safe. And action must be taken.”

“You really think you stand a chance?” Loki shook his head in disbelief. “You’re deluded.”

“No, Loki,” Frigga told him as she stood up and reached up a hand to cup his face. “You are the mistaken one if you think your family won’t fight for you on this one.”

“This Thanos has allowed you to be the scapegoat for his crimes and he is a risk to people everywhere,” Odin told him. “I am not going to let you down again, or the people that Thanos may go on to hurt. This threat needs to be destroyed.”

“If you make a move against him," Loki warned. “You will only bring trouble to Asgard’s door.”

Frigga watched the two men bicker with a tired expression. They had come here tonight for answers and while they had gotten them, it didn’t seem like they were much closer to fixing the rifts. Still, she told herself, the truth would bring better things now that it was out. On that, she was positive. A wave of drowsiness began to hit her and she closed her eyes for a moment.

Instead of the familiar darkness, gold flashed behind her eyelids and in her mind, she was seeing something completely different.

_A gigantic face loomed out of a sea of cosmos. The face was blue and heavily lined like the bark of a tree. Tiny, dark blue eyes peered out of a huge forehead. A thin, smirking mouth stretched above a massive chin. The rest of the face was covered by a tight fitting golden helmet. There was no humanity in his eyes, only a delight for destruction, also expressed through his smile. The stars of the universe sparkled behind him but his mere presence seemed to diminish them._

_Suddenly his smirk began to widen and he stretched out a thick, azure hand towards Frigga. A hand that wore a solid, metal gauntlet. In each of the knuckles on the gauntlet sat a glowing stone, pulsing in the spot. The figure began to laugh; it was a thick, echoing laugh full of arrogance and cruelty._

_Then the vision turned around completely and then Frigga was looking closely into a face. A wide, heart shaped face with beautiful emerald eyes and messy brown hair. Frigga couldn_ _’t see whether the person was male or female but there was a fierce determination in their eyes as they narrowed to glare towards Thanos._

And then suddenly the vision was over. Frigga stepped back into Odin’s protective arms.

“Frigga?” he whispered.

Thor and Loki had stopped glaring towards each other and bickering. Both of them had moved towards her. Loki’s eyes were taking in her expression and posture while Thor simply looked anxiously at her. Frigga felt a sudden rush of love towards both of her boys. It had been a long time since she had known them to be so united and yet here they were being so over her. The hope that had sprung up in her chest continued to blossom. Maybe, just maybe there was a chance for them to reunite.

But for now Frigga had to concentrate on what she’d just seen.

“What did you see?” Odin asked her gently.

“I… I believe it may have been Thanos,” Frigga revealed quietly. “Odin, he wore the Infinity gauntlet.”

Thor’s shoulders squared. “That gauntlet is still in our vault.”

“For now,” Loki murmured ominously.

Thor jerked his head in Loki’s direction. “You think he’d come here?”

“Thanos has no qualms about going where he will, destroying the people he has to, anything that’s in his way,” Loki explained seriously. “Asgard’s reputation won’t concern him especially if he gets wind that the gauntlet is there.” He suddenly hesitated. “He may well already know.”

“Because he’s played with your mind,” Odin finished.

“So he could come anytime?” Thor questioned. “Mother did you see anything else?”

Frigga took a deep breath. “I did. But nothing that suggested when he would be coming.”

“That would be too fortunate if the vision had included such details,” Odin murmured.

“Mother. What else did you see?” Loki stepped closer to her, reaching out to touch her arm. “Anything you can tell will help us.”

Frigga frowned deeply at Loki. “I… Loki, I’m so sorry.”

His frown deepened. “Why are you sorry? What did you see?” He spoke each question slowly.

Frigga held his gaze for a moment before looking to Thor and Odin who both looked equally curious. She exhaled slowly and returned her gaze to her youngest son. “I’m sorry,” she said, “because I saw someone else in the vision,” she explained. “And I think that person was your unborn child.”


	10. There's bad news and there's bad news

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frigga has some disconcerting news for Darcy on two counts.

The morning sickness started a few days later. Except Darcy felt that it was a widely appropriate name considering her sickness crept on her mostly in the middle of the afternoon and a few times before bed. There were at least some perks to the later timing as she would fill her mouth with her favourite toothpaste and crash in bed, quickly tired from the repeated vomiting. Afternoon sickness truly sucked as her appetite would vanish and so she wouldn’t eat until about seven or eight in the evening. On the days with frequent bouts of sickness, Darcy’s tiredness would consume her and so she spent most of the day curled up on the couch with a blanket and a box set of Black Books. At least the bitterly dry remarks of Bernard Black kept her entertained.

The sensation of this physical sickness was oddly reassuring as though the baby was making itself known, reminding Darcy that it did exist and that it was a part of her now. On the one hand, that kind of freaked Darcy out, because it officially set the clock ticking until her literal labour day.  And yet on the other hand, it was like the baby was reaching out to Darcy, saying _I_ _’m here, I’m a person and I’m doing this to you. I’m doing this because I need to grow into your child._

The thought crept up on Darcy over those days, with each reminder that this baby was taxing her body, that was making her sleep and frequent the bathroom more. Darcy was becoming considerably more familiar with the taste of toothpaste - it was a comforting taste between bouts of sickness, offering her a cool refreshment and it helped to clear her mind. The more she adjusted to the impact of the pregnancy, the more her thoughts dwelt on the baby itself. Darcy would be watching television, completely distracted by the plot or the latest ship she was enjoying and then suddenly her thoughts would come back to the baby, wondering what it was thinking right now, whether it was sleeping between the sickness, whether the baby could even sleep.

Whenever she watched a show or a film with a new baby, she found herself having to look away. It was too easy to envision herself in that scenario in a few months and it made her chest tighten with nerves. There was so much she had yet to do and yet she still couldn’t get her head around the fact she was pregnant in the first place. Her pulse still raced with fear at the merest contemplation of parenthood.

One evening, after a day of little morning sickness, Darcy spent half an hour in the large jacuzzi tub with an abundance of bubbles that made the tub look like a cloud. She lost herself in the pages of a completely non pregnancy related novel about some, frankly adorkable, high schoolers who fell in love over a chemistry project (seriously, how cute was that?!). She had just climbed out and was drying herself with the towel when she felt it for the first time.

It was the extra curve over her stomach, the rise of the tiniest bump. Barely noticeable on sight but Darcy could feel it as her hand moved over the skin on her stomach. She slid her palm across the bump and shivered. _That_ _’s a baby. That’s actually my baby. My baby is here._ She looked over at herself in the mirror, the towel having been dropped now. Her eyes slid over the gentle rising of her slightly swollen breasts down to where her fingers splayed over the baby bump. She smiled to herself, amused that she couldn’t see the bump in the mirror, not without careful and deliberate examination anyway, and yet she could feel the rise of it. She looked down at herself. It was barely there and yet that was her child growing inside her.

“You’re so tiny,” she whispered. Emotion floated up her throat and gathered in the back of her mouth. For just a moment, her eyes prickled with a few tears. She shivered as the pool of emotion expanded, flooding back down into her chest and spreading outwards. Darcy lowered herself so she was perched on the edge of the bathtub, closing her eyes and taking in deep breaths. She was actually talking to her child, she could feel her child growing inside of her. They were officially a person now. Not just a tiny lifeform that sent her heart rate through the roof.

“I’m gonna be your mom…” she whispered aloud, in the silence of her bathroom. “Holy shit…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The sound of heavy knocking interrupted Darcy’s seventh episode of Pretty Little Liars.

Tugging herself lazily  into a sitting position, Darcy was immediately reminded of Thor with the steady, heavy sounds. That and the guy was just not capable of doing anything _gently._ She paused Netflix, climbed off the sofa, said a mental thank you to the baby for not making her queasy with that movement. It was pretty late for someone to be calling round. Unless she’d sleep-dialled the pizza place again. Darcy seriously considered this as she swung the door open. Once was amusing, twice was embarrassing, if she’d done it for a third time then she was just going to look stupid.

It wasn’t the pizza place standing on her porch. It was Frigga again.

This time she wasn’t dressed in her gorgeous, queenly robes that had made Darcy want to reach out and grab them. Instead the Queen of Asgard had outfitted herself in sophisticated Earth attire of: a long white skirt, a matching suit jacket and a duck-egg blouse. Her red-gold hair tumbled down over her shoulders, hanging long down her back. It seemed to settle just past her waist. _That must be hell to brush,_ Darcy observed as she took in the older woman’s appearance. The hair being worn down took years of the queen’s face since the last time Darcy had seen her. There was a slight brightness to her blue eyes and yet something else stirred there though Darcy couldn’t make out what it was.

“Wow,” she said immediately, blinking rapidly. “I mean hi,” she added, still staring at her. “You look great.” She glanced around at the silent road leading up to her house. “You know you don’t have to blend in right?” she asked.

Frigga smiled broadly at her. “I thought I would try some Midgardian attire. I must say it’s very comfortable.”

“It looks great,” Darcy assured her again before stepping inside so the queen could enter. “You look like you’re flying in from a business meeting.”

Frigga laughed as she entered the house. “Thank you… although you’re not really wrong,”  she admitted as she walked into the lounge. “I have just come from some business up in Asgard.”

“Yeah, Jane told me Thor had gone back, something about something serious going on,” Darcy told her as she closed the door behind her and followed her back into the warmth. She was beginning to wish she’d worn a nightie and a dressing gown as opposed to her panda pyjamas. Still, it could be worse, Frigga could have walked in on her being sick or something. Frigga’s shoulders seemed to tense at Darcy’s remark and for a moment, she didn’t answer. Darcy’s stomach whirled uncomfortably as she watched Frigga hover never the open space near the patio window. She followed the older woman across the room. “Is everything ok?” she asked, already getting the hunch that that might be a stupid question.

Frigga gazed out of the window thoughtfully before replying. “I guess it depends on your definition of ‘ok’,” she admitted before looking back at Darcy through the reflection in the glass, “and your perspective.”

“Okaaaay…” Darcy trailed off, “you’re kind of freaking me out here. What’s going on?”

Frigga exhaled deeply and turned to face Darcy, folding her arms as she did. “There’s been some developments on Asgard. Some more truths have come to light about Loki and… well it changes things.”

Darcy mirrored Frigga’s actions, wrapping her arms securely around herself. “Why does this affect me?” she asked. The discomfort in her stomach was beginning to spread to her chest. If it was a dubious issue then that very much sounded like something that might be ok to someone else and yet bad news for Darcy. She was beginning to regret asking what the issue was.

“Well,” Frigga explained, stepping a little closer to Darcy, “it has been established that Loki wasn’t in sole control over what happened in New York and the culprits responsible for influencing him have been identified.”

“Right.”

“His previous actions, while terrible, were the direct result of many years of deception and familial troubles being exposed,” Frigga continued.

“That doesn’t excuse him,” Darcy warned her. “People nearly died in New Mexico and they would have done if that robot hadn’t made such an entrance,” she added. “People lost their homes thanks to him.”

“I’m not trying to excuse it, Darcy.” Frigga assured her, reaching a hand out to Darcy’s elbow. “The point is that he’s not as guilty as we thought he was. And before all of this, he wasn’t so violent or prone to taking lives. He was always the one who considered his actions first. Loki has been changed in the past few years.”

“Yeah, it definitely sounds like you’re trying to explain away what he’s done,” Darcy shrugged out of Frigga’s grasp. “And,” she added, “it also sounds like you’re trying to justify something else. Something else I’m not going to like?”

Frigga straightened up and swallowed. “The Allfather and the Council have decided to terminate Loki’s sentence.”

The last few words of Frigga’s sentence sent a violent wave of shock through Darcy. _Terminate his sentence. In other words, let him go. Release him. Make him a free man._ As she processed this, her knees buckled and Frigga had to reach out both hands to support her by her elbows.

“Darcy-” the queen began to speak.

Darcy forced herself away from the helping hands, summoning enough strength in her legs to make it over to the couch. For a second, guilt flailed her chest but Darcy let her anger suppress it for the moment. “Don’t touch me,” Darcy muttered as she sank down. She stared at the frozen television screen. Aria and Hanna from Pretty Little Liars were paused mid argument. It was unfairly apt so she grabbed the remote and turned off the TV with a sharp exhale.

“Darcy please look at me.”

Darcy felt nothing at ignoring the queen’s request, instead turning her head away. It didn’t ease the swirling bubble of unease and angry anxiety inside her chest. If anything, it seemed to grow without Frigga in her line of sight. The more it built up, the more her mind began to fill with images, each one more unpleasant than the last. She shuddered under the memory of Loki’s threats from the cell. Without Thor and Asgard to worry about, what was to stop him fulfilling them now? Especially as she knew stuff about him. Stuff that he didn’t seem eager to share.

 _Unless he_ _’s lying…_ Darcy thought to herself hopefully. _Maybe he_ _’s lying…_ Somehow, as she spoke the words, the truth sank in anyway. He wasn’t lying. There was something natural about that circumstantial honesty - something that made her believe him. And that just complicated things even more.

“I can’t believe you’re letting him go,” she murmured, voicing her thoughts as soon as they raced through her head. “After everything he’s done, you’re setting him loose. Willingly.” She sucked in a breath. “Do you know how irresponsible that makes you?” she demanded, finally looking around at Frigga. Her cheeks inflamed with rage. “You are putting everyone on Earth in danger.” She placed a hand on her stomach. “Including your grandchild, you know that, don’t you?” she added accusingly.

Frigga walked forward. “Loki would never harm his child.”

“Are you kidding me?” Darcy reminded her. “He attacked New Mexico just to get to his brother. He hates his father and he can barely cope with being adopted. He doesn’t have a great track record with family, does he?”

Frigga stiffened in response. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. “He told you that? About being adopted?”

“Yeah,” Darcy told her, “he did. And about how you guys lied to him,” she added with a hint of accusation. Once again, any guilt was swallowed up by anger and the reminder that this woman, as kind of sweet as she was, had just told her that a war criminal (who was also her baby daddy) was going to be on the loose again soon. Likely also thanks to her, at least partially from the sounds of it. Given that she was defending him. _Although she is his mother,_ a quiet voice inside Darcy spoke but it was swiftly swallowed up by her mountain of irritation. No, Darcy told herself. That didn’t justify anything especially when she was endangering people.

Frigga was looking down at the ground, her kind face lined with sadness. “We were wrong to lie,” she admitted to Darcy. “We thought we were protecting him from the prejudices of our race but instead we were encouraging it,” she continued. “I’m not proud of that - none of us are.” She clasped her hands together across her stomach. “I miss the way he was before all of this; mischievous, maybe a little manipulative but essentially a good man. I still believe he’s in there but he’s damaged,” she acknowledged.

“And you want to inflict that on us again?” Darcy argued. She sat up. “Even if he wasn’t entirely responsible for New York, and he was going through whatever with New Mexico, he is still a violent man. When I first met him, he _loved_ frightening me with suggestions for how he could kill me in the most dangerous ways. Is that the sort of man you want to let loose?” she demanded.

“Oh Darcy,” Frigga moved forwards until she perched next to Darcy on the couch. “Loki won’t have meant those things. Not to you anyway. He enjoys scaring people, that’s all, making them believe the worst of him. Especially in recent years,” she added thoughtfully. She reached out to place a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

Darcy shifted her shoulder briefly, considering shrugging her off. However she decided against it. “That doesn’t matter. I was terrified and he manipulated that.”

Frigga sucked in an anxious breath. “Is that why you slept with him? Because you thought you’d die otherwise.”

At the suggestion, Darcy’s face flooded with colour. “No!” she exclaimed, feeling heat spread from her face throughout her body like a blazing flare. “I… well, _that_ happened because, because we had too much to drink and…” she sighed, “we both wanted it. We… well, we were getting along… talking about stuff thanks to the wine and there was a… a connection. I didn’t expect that.” She rubbed at her face with both hands. “But out of all the crimes that your son has committed - rape isn’t one of them,” she finished, looking into the queen’s face. “But that doesn’t mean I feel safe with him around.”

Frigga held her gaze evenly. “I understand.”

“I assume he’s Asgard-grounded?” Darcy pressed hopefully. Frigga swallowed and opened her mouth to speak. “That would be a no then,” Darcy answered for her. “Great. Thanks for that,” she muttered, rubbing her temples slowly.

“Asgard wouldn’t be terminating his punishment if there wasn’t sufficient evidence and belief that his offending days are behind him,” Frigga tried to reassure her but in all honesty, Darcy felt like her words were falling flat. As if Loki was going to suddenly become a choir boy as soon as he was released.

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” the Midgardian muttered. “I’m sure he’ll be tempted.”

“Everyone is tempted,” Frigga pointed out. “And with all due respect Darcy, you knew my son during some of his worst days. I have hope he can try and redeem himself.”

Darcy scowled. “Well you can be deluded all you want. I am not falling for that shit,” she told her, rising from her seat. “Your son is dangerous and I can’t be around him, not with the baby.”

Frigga’s eyes glittered. “So you’re… warming up to the pregnancy?”

Darcy looked away. “I’m getting my head around it,” she insisted. “But what I don’t need is that head case being anywhere near me,” she added. “I have enough to worry about without worrying about him being inside my head too.” She moved away from Frigga, going to round the couch, towards the door. However the Asgardian gently took hold of her arm, stopping her in her tracks. “Hey-” Darcy began to protest.

“Darcy, Loki needs another chance,” Frigga told her directly. “The boy I raised is still in there. He showed it when he gave you the money, when he didn’t try and harm you in that cell. He has told us everything about his actions on Midgard and Asgard. He has been upfront about the people he was involved with, the things that were done. I honestly believe that this honesty gives us hope for his future.”

Darcy’s eyebrows furrowed intensely. “He told you everything.” Ignoring the fact that she and Loki had talked about some pretty deep stuff, Darcy had gotten the impression from their conversation that he wasn’t going to be telling anyone else what he’d told her. It had made it all the more strange that he’d chosen to tell her. “Somehow I doubt that.”

“There was a Rune of Sacred Truth involved,” Frigga admitted.

Darcy jerked her arm out of Frigga’s grip. “Then that’s not being upfront. That’s having the truth dragged out of you or whatever the hell that rune does to you,” she snapped. “You’ve had to force the truth out of him and now you’re rewarding him for it,” she then scoffed. “How does that even make sense?” she pointed out.

“Because Loki embraced the rune. He told us things that the rune wouldn’t necessarily bind him to,” Frigga answered simply.

Darcy leaned back against one of the wooden pillars, suddenly feeling tired. “What are you expecting me to think? “ _Oh great he_ _’s being honest! That makes him a really great guy. I’ll allow him to be around the baby and act like he didn’t try and raze New York and Puente Antiguo to the ground!_ ” Is that what you’re asking me?”

“Of course not,” Frigga declared in a firm tone. “Loki needs to earn people’s trust and respect again.”

“Can’t he just stay on Asgard and do that?” Darcy questioned. “He’s made a lot of enemies here.”

“Which is exactly why he should come down to serve penance here,” Frigga countered.

Darcy immediately pulled a face, fully prepared to argue. And yet, Frigga’s statement made sense. Loki should make some amends for what he did. Most of the damage was done on Earth not Asgard from what she’d heard. Still, it didn’t mean Darcy had to like it. In fact, she was determined not to.

“He must have said a lot of convincing shit to get all of this going in his favour,” Darcy muttered, folding her arms and sitting down next to Frigga again. “At least tell me he’s going to stay away from me.” Frigga hesitated and Darcy growled. “For god’s sake… why not?” The queen of Asgard looked anxious. It was not an expression that inspired comfort in Darcy. In fact, she could feel her own heart rate begin to pick up, just thinking about what other bad news Frigga might be about to say.

“It is for your own protection that I think Loki would be most needed here.”

“What the hell?” Darcy turned in her seat. “What’s this got to do with my protection? If anything you’re endangering me.”

“I’m really not, Darcy,” Frigga promised. “You see there’s something else you should know…” she began to say.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Half an hour later, Darcy and Frigga sat in the adjacent dining room, a room filled with oak border panels.

Within each panel were engraved silver sketchings against a cerulean background. The pictures depicted many scenes: woodland gatherings of animals, children playing in the forest, a family of deer among many others. The room was one of the major touches that Darcy had insisted on for the house. The panels had been sketched by an old friend years ago - Tiffany Daniels. To this day, Darcy still couldn’t think about Tiffany without the familiar sting in her chest. The sting that had never gone away since Tiffany died of leukaemia aged twelve. Her art had been the only thing to survive their friendship and it was too painful for her parents to keep hold of. So Darcy had memorialized her friend in the dining room.

Right now, Darcy’s thoughts were far away from Tiffany and their childhood years.

“So…” Darcy struggled to get the words out. “You have seen some vision about my child going up against the monster that kicked even Loki’s ass?” she repeated, the words were hollow and slightly nauseating.

“Yes,” Frigga answered quietly. “I don’t know how old they were but they were an adult, I could see that.”

Darcy stared down into the cup of coffee that Frigga had conjured. “That…. That’s not making me feel any better,” she muttered. She sighed and reached up to rub her forehead. "And you didn’t see anyone else?” she added.

“No,” Frigga confirmed. “I’m sorry, Darcy,” she told her honestly. “I have tried to open my mind to seeing more of the vision but nothing further has come to me. But I’ll keep trying,” she assured the younger woman.

“You can understand why I am just… done with tonight, right?” Darcy exhaled hard. “First you have admitted that you’re going to let loose my, frankly, dangerous baby daddy and now you’re also telling me, “Hey by the way, one day your child will face down the mastermind behind the New York attack. Just so you know, like,” she added with a shake of her head. “Maybe I’m cursed,” she muttered to herself. _Multiple_ a _lien attacks, physics abductions, an alien pregnancy and now some freaky prophecy. Great, just great._

“No, Darcy!” Frigga reached over, her frown immediately being washed over with a concerned, motherly look. It would have been reassuring if she hadn’t been the one to deliver so much shit news to Darcy tonight. “You are not cursed-”

“Oh really?” Darcy snapped back at her. “Because my life has been screwed around so much by aliens in the past three years… including your son by the way,” she sucked in another breath to keep going. “And just when I think that I can forget about all of that and put it behind me, what happens? This baby,” she gestured to her stomach. “And when I’m just starting to get my head around that, _this_ comes up,” she made a vague gesture in the air between herself and the Queen. “It’s just so fucking unfair,” she sighed yet again, leaning back in her seat. “And that’s not even throwing in the fact that up until this windfall I was an unpaid intern with no prospects or anything vaguely romantic on the horizon.”

Tears began to stir behind her eyes and she blinked them away furiously. “I just feel like my life has been one joke and now… now the joke’s going cosmic.”

“I should have waited,” Frigga mused aloud. “I should have-”

“Do you know what?” Darcy asked in a tired voice. “There’s a lot of things that should have been done. But somehow I’m paying for a lot of them.” _At least with the baby_ _… well it wasn’t a totally bad situation._ She shuddered a little, taking a deep breath to try and clear her mind.

“Darcy,” Frigga reached over and cupped Darcy’s chin, surprising the brunette. “I know you may not want to hear this. But I would never have encouraged this termination of Loki’s sentence if I didn’t think he was ready to start moving forwards and stop causing distress for other people. I believe he can change for the better if he gets the chance.”

Darcy only half scowled this time. “I hope for you guys’ sake that he does. Because you’ll have to deal with it if he starts fucking around with us again.” She sipped at her coffee. “I need time to think about all of this. So can you just make sure Loki stays away from me? I don’t have the head space to deal with him right now.”

Frigga nodded quietly. “That’s more than fair. I’ll give you time to think this over. But if you should need anything, you’re very welcome to talk to me about any concerns you may have. I may be Loki’s mother but I am here for you too.”

“Thanks.” Darcy muttered as she rose to her feet. “I’m going to lie down for a little bit.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Darcy let the bedroom curtains hang open as she flopped down onto the large, inviting duvet - a comforting haven of ivory and purple - face first with her mutterings swallowed up by her feather pillows. A tentative wind tickled her lower back where her shirt had ridden up. It made the vague ringlets at the back of her head dance a little, allowing some of the cool hair to brush her neck, cooling the heated skin there.

Just when she thought her head couldn’t get any more mashed up. Like being pregnant with a Norse God’s baby (and from what she’d read, it may not even be necessarily human either) wasn’t enough. Apparently that just wasn’t enough excitement in Darcy’s life. There just had to be those extra complications.

“It’s like all this chaos is attracted to me,” Darcy murmured out loud as she rolled onto her back. “I must have done something pretty awful in a past life,” she muttered. “Maybe I was Henry VIII,” she mused with a slight smile but scoffing. “I certainly didn’t ask for any of this alien crap.” Feeling a twinge of guilt, she placed a hand on her stomach. “Well, not that you’re crap,” she told her stomach. “But I’m sure you know what I mean. Somehow trouble is attracted to me.”

Suddenly Darcy smiled as a thought occurred to her. She immediately sensed that this shouldn’t amuse her but somehow it still did. “You’re taking after me already, I think,” Darcy told her barely existent bump. “Attracting trouble just like your mom,” she added as she placed her hand over the tiny bump, caressing it with her thumb. “Must be natural talent,” she remarked.

The tightness that had gathered in her chest began to loosen. Maybe it was the idea that she and this baby had the shared habit of attracting trouble soothing her. And yet at the same time the knowledge kept her on edge. But then perhaps it was not such a bad thing that she attracted so much trouble. Maybe she could help her child try and avoid it. Or at least learn to get used to it.

Darcy closed her eyes tightly, hoping that her earlier tiredness would push her off to sleep. She didn’t expect it to though. Sleep rarely came when one wanted it to.

 


	11. Fireside Friendship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy finds herself connecting with Frigga who delves a little into her son's past

A few hours had passed when Darcy’s eyes opened again. Her head was filled with that pleasant haze that always accompanied the aftermath of a deep sleep. She resisted its pull away from her, wanting to hang onto that feeling for as long as she could. Still, it began to slip away from her like dry sand, the kind that she just couldn’t keep hold of even if she wanted to. Awareness returned to her very slowly. 

The house was quiet. For a moment Darcy wondered if perhaps she had dreamt the last few days up. Perhaps there wasn’t a potential death threat hanging over her unborn child, maybe Loki wasn’t going to be released. Or maybe even this would be a dream and she’d wake up before the Convergence. Before any of this mess had started. Darcy felt the tiniest twinge of guilt for wishing her child’s existence away. But the truth was that all of this, this whole situation was a mess. Darcy would go back to the way things were… well maybe, if it meant she could go back to not having to worry, to not have to think about being a parent or of crazy Asgardian hotties from luxury cells. And yet the guilt remained, nibbling away at her like those fish you paid for that nipped at the dead skin on your feet.

Jane had text her, Darcy saw on her phone. She wasn’t surprised that her friend was still up at this hour, squirreling away at her work. Jesus Christ… it’s midnight? Darcy noted as she processed the time on her phone. Well, that was quite a nap. 

She rose out of bed and, as soon as her body shifted upright, she felt a violent wave of nausea overcome her. Darcy slammed a hand to her mouth and practically hurled herself into the bathroom. She proceeded to empty the contents of her stomach out a grand total of three times before cleaning up and emerging from the bathroom. Her head spun from the sickness and so she clutched at the sides of the door as she waited for it to pass. Once it had, she let out a small shudder and immediately made for the door.

Darcy’s house had a very open plan downstairs. From the front door, the lounge unfolded like a board game. To the immediate right the kitchen looked out to the lounge through a large rectangular space in the wall with an extending wooden counter for meals or drinks to be passed through. Just under the counter stood three stools, giving the option to eat or drink there. Opposite the front door, further away from the kitchen, floor to ceiling patio windows led out onto the garden and the view of Alaska beyond. To the left of the kitchen, a darkened hallway led to a bathroom and a grand, spiral staircase that led upstairs. 

Upstairs there were three large bedrooms, a room that had once, apparently, been a music room but which currently stood empty. A shame, Darcy thought, if it had included the furniture, she might have been inspired to actually take up an instrument. But as it was empty and would therefore involve Darcy purchasing the instruments separately, she felt a little less inclined to bother. Darcy’s bedroom was the master but the other two rooms had a joint bathroom. The final room upstairs was a smaller office space. 

As for the spiral staircase, Darcy loved walking down those stairs like some debutante or a princess, making her grand entrance into society. Except that Darcy had all the grace of a duck and her carriage, not to mention her footsteps, were as clumsy and uneven as if Shrek were attempting to play the part of aristcrat. A funny image but… just no. 

I would suck at being a princess, Darcy thought to herself as she wandered down and through into the lounge area. She immediately made a beeline for the kitchen. But a flickering shape out of the corner of her eye, stopped her. 

The fireplace was burning still. Jeez, Darcy thought to herself. The sight of it produced a tiny blossom of fear in her chest. Had that fire been going when she went to lie down? Way to be dangerous, Darcy, she told herself with inward admonishment. Although really the fire should have burnt itself out by now, she reasoned to herself, lacking some conviction as she did. She stepped away from the kitchen, fully aware of the deep, uneven thumping of her heartbeat. Why was that fire still going? Was someone else here? 

She rounded the corner of the wall to where she’d get a full view of the lounge and immediately stepped backwards. Joy hit her like a twenty ton truck, the relief almost making her pass out as her eyes beheld the figure of Frigga near the fireplace. The queen of Asgard was perched on the edge of the sofa nearest the fireplace. Her blue eyes were darkened in contrast to the glowing flames. Her gaze was completely focused, intensely watching the mischievous flames dance over the logs. Darcy’s memories of the night before returned with a slightly bitter aftertaste and a touch of guilt as she recalled how harsh she had been with Frigga. After all, Frigga was a mother and soon enough, Darcy would be one too. Not that she felt like one right now. There was still so much that freaked her out. Sure, when she thought about the fact that a tiny little person was growing inside her and that she was starting to show, well that was cute. But apart from that, she was still finding it hard to get her head around. Was that a bad sign? Did it mean she was going to be a sucky mom? So many questions like these haunted Darcy from time to time. And yet here Frigga was. A frankly awesome mom. Even after all the shit that Loki had pulled (even if it wasn’t 100% his fault) she stood by him.

“Ummm…” Darcy spoke quietly, feeling a little like an intruder in her own home as she approached the fireplace. “Your majesty…?”

Frigga didn’t turn away from the fire but she did smile. “Darcy, it’s quite alright for you to call me, Frigga.”

Darcy perched on the adjacent sofa. “I don’t know about that,” she admitted. “It seems strange considering you’re a queen and all.”

“I’m not your queen,” the Asgardian reminded her gently. 

Darcy straightened a little in her chair. The reminder loosened the knot that had been gradually building since Frigga’s first visit here. “That’s true,” she agreed. “So I can just talk to you like…?”

“Like I was a friend, I would hope.” Frigga smiled at her. “I would like it very much if we could get on, Darcy. I think you’re a wonderful girl,” she told her. 

Darcy’s cheeks flushed ruby. “Oh now, now, Frigga,” she just about managed to keep the playfulness in her tone. “You’re going to make me blush.”

“It’s true,” Frigga told her. “There’s a lot to be said for the way you have taken what has happened in your life.”

“There’s not much choice,” Darcy shrugged. “I just have to get on with it really,” she added. “Besides it’s not all bad,” she added. 

“That is true, you have the baby.”

Darcy immediately flushed. “Oh umm… well I meant I have good friends and… well,” she sighed. “I don’t want to sound like a complete bitch here but I’m still trying to get my head around the baby.”

Frigga nodded once. “I understand,” she assured the Midgardian girl. “As I said, for some people it does take a lot of time. It doesn’t mean you won’t love your child once it’s here.”

Darcy exhaled a little. It was like Frigga had reached into her mind and plucked out the one fear that was standing out the most among them. She brushed some hair out of her face and feigned a smile. “I hope so,” she shrugged. 

“I have a feeling you won’t have a problem.” 

“A feeling eh?” Darcy arched an eyebrow. “As in a “feeling,”” she held up both hands for quotation marks. “Spooky prophecy kind of feeling.”

Frigga laughed gently. “No, not that kind of feeling.”

“Good because, well I could do without any more of those.”

“I have faith in you, Darcy,” Frigga told her sincerely. “As a mother.” 

Darcy’s cheeks flushed again and this time the guilt from earlier prodded at her with sharper talons than before. Darcy let some silence hang between them before she sucked in a deep breath. “Speaking of that,” she acknowledged quietly. “I shouldn’t have jumped down your throat about Loki before,” she explained. “I was just so angry and you were there so…” She looked over towards the older woman. “I think it’s incredible that you’re still willing to be there for him.”

Frigga offered Darcy the tiniest of smiles. “You will understand one day. Hopefully your little one won’t make the mistake their father did but you will understand. Motherhood extends beyond all reason, even when reason dictates that we should leave our child to sink or swim,” she continued, shaking her head. “Abandoning them is simply not an option.” 

“I can’t wait to feel like that,” Darcy admitted. “It’s just that… I’m scared I won’t feel like that.”

“That is natural, Darcy, This conception wasn’t planned nor expected. You have a challenging time facing you,” Frigga explained. “Don’t try and force anything, just be you and let things develop naturally.”

“Well that’s what I did,” Darcy argued and looked down at herself, “that’s what got me into this mess,” she admitted with a slight grin. 

Frigga’s smile widened. “Just so you know, Darcy. My son would never spend the night with someone purely for physical purposes. You must have something very special inside you to have lured him into such distractions,” she finished. 

Darcy’s whole face and neck were flushed red. “Oh come on, Frigga,” she murmured. “This is getting embarrassing now.”

Frigga’s smile was a little merciless and yet humour shone in her blue eyes, a kind of stubborn defiance. The kind of look that Darcy had only ever seen in those really determined mothers. “I only speak the truth, Darcy.”

Darcy hoped that they could at least talking about Loki in the bedroom department way. Adopted or not, Frigga was his mother so it was pretty uncomfortable. Still, she had so much belief in Darcy as a mother that it brought a few tears sparkling in Darcy’s eyes. She blinked them away. It was more likely the hormones. Damn her for being moved so easily. You knew your sympathy boundaries were low when you got teary at a talking cheese commercial. She wished she could blame that on the hormones but somehow that cheerful cheddar and the sad swiss just got to her every time. That and making cheeses wear clothes was a stroke of comedy genius - simple yet hilarious. Or maybe Darcy was just easily amused. Jane would probably say so, albeit with a great deal of affection and a large roll of her eyes and a toss of her hair.

“Yeah well,” Darcy began with a slight shake of her head, “in the grand scheme of things, getting pregnant was the easy part,” she mused. And the fun part. She mentally pushed that thought away. “Now I get the months… maybe even a year, according to you, of aches, sickness and other gross stuff. Not to mention a hell of a lot of pain,” she added. “And then on top of that I have to be someone’s mom.” She threw up her hands in the air. “Do I look like someone’s mom? For the love of- I’m not a hundred percent sure I’m capable of looking after myself!” She half scoffed as she spoke this. Her track record with aliens, physical anomalies and crazy cells seemed to be reinforcing this, in the last year. 

Darcy’s cheeks flushed as Frigga laughed gently. “What?” she demanded. Frigga shook her head, not speaking, but letting the laughter roll out of her. Darcy’s cheeks began to burn a little with the heat. Well, no doubt Frigga thought she was a weirdo now. Oh well, she wouldn’t be the first one to think so, anyway.

“You seem to dwell very much on what other people think or perceive you.” The queen noted, her features fading the laughter from her face until she wore a vague smile. “And you seem to constantly underestimate yourself,” she added. 

Darcy’s hackles rose instinctively and she had to take a deep breath to suppress the annoyance especially considering Frigga hadn’t really said anything that bad. But still offense prickled at her. Damn hormones… Darcy thought to herself. So far on the pregnancy front, she hadn’t been too harassed by her hormones. Although all the same, she had a feeling that knowing her luck she would get a massive dose of them and be reduced to a mass of bubbling wreck. The kinds she’d mocked in films and TV shows. Oh how the tables had turned… she thought to herself.

“I don’t care that much, what people think of me,” Darcy argued mildly. “Certainly not most people anyway,” she added with a raised chin. “But I am a realist,” she continued. “I don’t expect to have much to offer this child apart from money and a nice house,” she explained. “How can someone who has never had a mother figure,” Darcy began to question before she paused for thought, “well,” she added, “a real mother figure anyway, possibly know how to be a good mom. Where’s the experience we’re supposed to draw on? The life lessons our own mothers pass on?” She sighed and leaned forward, elbows on her knees. “If we don’t have that person from the start, we’re kind of screwed.”

She didn’t consider any woman who cast a foster kid out at the smallest sign of trouble, a mother. Especially when there were women like Frigga who were willing to fight for their children, even if they were considered terrorist scum on another planet. Darcy pressed her lips together, opting not to refer to Loki that way in front of his mother. Especially as she was being so lovely to her anyway. 

“The people who have no experience of a guiding parenthood,” Frigga spoke gently, “understand the real value of it. Therefore they are able to offer that all the more strongly with their hearts,” she finished, eyes on Darcy who swallowed a little and fought back the tinge of a blush.

“Do you really believe that?” Darcy asked. 

“Darcy,” Frigga began gently, “despite what your culture suggests, there isn’t in fact a handbook for motherhood or pregnancy for that matter. You need to let yourself just feel what you feel,” she added simply.

Here she turned from where she’d been looking at the fire again, and gazed deeply into Darcy’s eyes. The light from the fireplace illuminated hair so that it reflected the flames like the queen of Asgard had been crowned in fire. It looked truly beautiful, Darcy thought, as she captured that image in her mind. On more than one occasion, she wished that she was able to draw or paint. The sight of Frigga by the fireplace would have made a great painting.

“Did you ever feel this way?” Darcy questioned. 

Frigga’s mouth curved downwards. “You don’t want to do that either - compare yourself to anyone else,” she stated.

Darcy sighed quietly. “So that’s a no then.”

“I wasn’t deliriously happy for all twelve months,” Frigga remarked, making Darcy shudder a little at the time scale, “I was frightened for a lot of it and sometimes, I did miss the freedom of not having that responsibility.”

“Really?” Darcy questioned. 

“I had been ruling with Odin for about a hundred and fifty years,” Frigga reflected, “so you could argue that I had had plenty of time to be childless and enjoy the freedom that it offered. But still, living a long, childless youth doesn’t make you any better prepared for motherhood than finding yourself pregnant early on, like you have.” There was an intensity to Frigga’s gaze that was both humbling and reassuring all at once. She rose from her spot on the couch and took a seat next to Darcy. This time she slid an arm around her and Darcy had to admit that that felt rather nice. “Just know,” Frigga spoke again in a quieter, gentler voice, in Darcy’s ear, “that you have my support and that I will do everything to help you through this.”

Immediately Darcy found herself leaning into Frigga’s embrace. It felt so comfortable that Darcy was tempted to rest her head on her shoulders. Would it be too weird? Would it just make everything so painfully uncomfortable that Frigga decided to take away the nice snuggle and potentially not sit so close to Darcy again? A tiny part of Darcy knew that it was an irrational thought - that Frigga was much too kind, or at least she seemed so, to put much thought into that action or hold it against Darcy. Still, Darcy felt like it may be too weird and so, she decided not to risk it. 

“It is a terrifying prospect, Darcy,” Frigga told her quietly. “But motherhood is also the greatest-” she began to comment. 

“-gift, right?” Darcy interrupted with a tiny smile. “Is this the part where you go all fortune cookie on me and say it will magically change my life?” 

Frigga’s amusement danced in her eyes. “Oh there is no doubt that it will change your life, Darcy. As for any magic, the child would need to learn magic if they wished to have the skill. They wouldn’t inherit it. Perhaps they might have a natural talent like Loki had.”

Darcy’s head jerked upwards. She looked up towards Frigga’s face, blinking slowly. “Are you just sassing my question or are you actually talking about my child learning magic?”

“I certainly am,” the queen confirmed. “If they should so choose it,” she added. 

“You’re just…. I mean this… This is…. I can’t….” Darcy stumbled over her words before exhaling long and hard. “I mean wow this… this is mad. I didn’t even think about the magic.” Except maybe the magic that got me in this state to begin with, she thought to herself, remembering the green light that had shimmered the clothes off of Loki and herself in the cell. Immediately her cheeks flushed and she turned her head away from Frigga while she took deep breaths to compose herself.

“If the baby is anything like Loki,” Frigga mused, “you will be lucky.”

Darcy wondered in what stretch of the imagination could anyone be considered lucky to have an interplanetary terrorist for a son. She opened her mouth automatically, her instincts primed for letting that slip out rather than engage in a filter. It was therefore probably for the best that Frigga began to speak again.

“He did have his moments,” the older woman admitted, “I mean Thor was so boisterous. He was always charging around the castle getting into scrapes and scraps with the other children. He was nearly always in trouble,” she added with a slight glance towards Darcy. “I’m sure that’s not hard to imagine.”

Well, at least I didn’t need to say it… Darcy thought to herself. 

“But Loki,” Frigga spoke up. “Oh when he behaved badly, he was absolutely naughty,” she explained with a growing smile on her face, an expression that was clearly taking her back into the past. She began to chuckle.

Darcy swallowed. “I don’t…umm…” she trailed off momentarily, “I don’t find that really hard to believe.”

To Darcy’s surprise, Frigga chuckled again. “No,” she mused. “I don’t imagine you do.”

The Midgardian girl’s cheeks immediately bloomed red. “Sorry,” she told her sheepishly.

“I’ve heard worse,” Frigga shrugged. “And no doubt I will in the future,” she remarked. 

Darcy instantly felt like she’d just slammed straight into a solid wall of guilt. She felt it bruise all along her ego and conscience. Poor Frigga probably had to deal with that kind of thing all the time, especially after the last few years. She really didn’t need Darcy piling it on too, even if she wouldn’t say anything. Darcy made a mental note to herself to at least avoid the digs at Loki. As much as she could anyway. There was still plenty she could say about him and none of it was flattering or appropriate to use in the presence of his mother and a queen. 

“I’m sorry,” Darcy said again, “for it anyway. You shouldn’t have to hear it.”

“Really, Darcy,” Frigga insisted. “It’s all well.” Suddenly she began to smile again. “Besides I have the many wonderful memories of him as a child when he did behave. He was such a good boy sometimes - very sweet and so kind.” 

Darcy suppressed the remark that had immediately risen in her throat. 

“He was also very fond of animals, especially horses,” Frigga mused. 

Darcy had to press her lips even tighter together in order not to comment. And yet still… “And wolves by any chance?” she added. It took all of her willpower not to wriggle her eyebrows suggestively like she would if she was teasing Jane. Frigga gave her a half bemused look before she answered. 

“Oh he adores wolves. I think the wolf would be his spirit animal; wild but majestic.”

That image conjured some very naughty thoughts into Darcy’s head. She chased them away with her next comment. “Oh?” she enquired. “Not snakes.”

Frigga’s gaze sharpened immediately as she took in Darcy’s meaning. Instead of smiling and laughing off the legends, her face immediately clouded over. “Snorri Sturluson has a great deal to answer for,” she muttered, her features creasing and wrinkling in anger. “The one time Hogun attempts to make a joke…”

“Hogun started that?!” Darcy spluttered. Immediately her thoughts conjured the image of the stiff-backed warrior with his hair tied up so tight that Darcy winced when imagining how uncomfortable that looked. His cold, ever professional eyes gave her the slight creeps too. It was incomprehensible enough to imagine him grinning letting alone going as far as cracking a joke. Certainly not one that would reverberate across multiple Earth cultures. And yet… these guys were old enough. She thought about how Thor always spoke about Hogun - serious and duty-orientated. And yet grumpy and seemingly humourless Hogun had started this animal babies children of Loki thing. What do you know?

“It did Loki’s reputation no good,” Frigga muttered, “especially in the romantic department.”

Darcy supposed that it would take a special kind of person to tolerate someone fathering animal babies. Or at least someone who was rumoured to have done so.

“Of course,” Frigga mused, “Fandral didn’t help by inventing fake wives. But he got his just desserts when he made the mistake of using his ex-lover’s name for one of them.”

“Angrboda?” Darcy asked. 

“Sigyn,” Frigga corrected her. “She wasn’t too pleased but as I said, Fandral did get his just desserts in that area. Of course Loki may have gone too far in deciding to seduce Sigyn when he knew Fandral wanted to pursue her again.” She frowned a little at the memory. “I have to say that I wasn’t particularly proud of Loki’s retaliation but he and Sigyn became good friends for a while. At least until… well, circumstances after Thor’s banishment.”

He threw an Asgardian sized tantrum and indulged in some world-wrecking shenanigans. Including some more interesting activities… Darcy thought to herself, attempting to hide her blush as she did so. 

She didn’t elaborate but Darcy didn’t need her to. She knew enough to imagine that any friends that Loki may have had, may not have been willing to give him the time of day especially after the attack on New York and his attempted invasion. She felt a flicker of sympathy for the guy. 

Still, Darcy did laugh out loud, belatedly, at the thought of Loki’s revenge on Fandral. “That payback though…” she chuckled. “I don’t know whether to be impressed or appalled,” she admitted with a grin. 

“I rather leaned towards appalled,” said Frigga, “if only because it involved Sigyn being used for revenge. Still, I suppose she was just as willing as he was.”

“Plus,” Darcy suggested, “what a way to pay back Fandral herself,” she pointed out. “I mean using her name in stories that will spread is kind of a dick move.”

Frigga frowned. “A what move?”

Darcy’s face flushed red so fast, she may as well have been a traffic light. “Um, never mind, it’s just slang for bad.”

The corners of Frigga’s lips twitched into a smile. “Interesting,” she murmured. “Anyway,” she declared, “even so I must still disapprove of his actions, as his mother.” 

Darcy decided not to mention how much stuff Frigga must actually disapprove of considering everything that Loki had done both on Earth and on Asgard. “So,” she began, “who was Angrboda then? Really? Or did Fandral make her up?”

Frigga’s smile deepened with a slight hint of mischief. “Well actually,” she paused a moment and her lips shook briefly as though she was trying to suppress some laughter, “she was Volstagg’s mother,” she answered in a quiet voice. 

“He used Volstagg’s mother?!” Darcy spluttered. It turned into a snort and she brought the back of her hand to her mouth and closed her eyes with a giggle. She wondered how Fandral was even friends with anyone when he pulled stunts like that. And yet, she couldn’t help but find the whole situation ridiculously and hilariously adorable that a rumour mill from one out of space realm could generate so many famous legends that stuck around for ages. All on whimsical jokes. 

“That would be brilliant,” Darcy grinned. “Starting stories in Asgard that become legends on Earth,” she enthused with a grin. “I would totally set a challenge to see how far the wackiest rumour I could think of, would take.”

Frigga laughed. “Unfortunately, I feel that would not work as well in a society that seems to be less ruled by deities, or at least multiple ones anyway.”

“Well that’s debatable,” Darcy argued. “I mean I believed in the bogeyman, Santa and the tooth fairy up until I was ten years old,” she admitted. 

“Well,” Frigga chuckled again, this time far more softly. “I do mean our myths.”

“Oh.” Darcy mumbled, officially embarrassed now. “Well um…. Yeah…. That makes sense.” She immediately looked around the room, her gaze seeking out something that could divert the conversation from this embarrassing turn. 

“It’s a charming lounge,” Frigga suddenly declared with a smile, making Darcy grateful for the subject change. “And a wonderful set up to watch the entertainment system you mortals like.”

“TV,” Darcy acknowledged with a grin. “One of my basic needs,” she declared with a raised chin, unashamed of that level of immaturity at least. “I’m not fun to live with without access to my boxsets especially Gossip Girl.”

“Gossip Girl?” Frigga repeated. 

The younger woman nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah yeah it’s an amazing show,” she enthused. “It’s basically about freakishly rich kids, and a few poor ones, acting out and behaving badly when they don’t get their own way. Plus generally getting into lots of shenanigans and there’s a secret writer who exposes all of their secrets on the internet and phones.”

“Sounds like something Loki would like,” Frigga mused. 

Darcy’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh god,” she murmured. “He is totally a Chuck.”

“Am I supposed to know what that means?” Frigga joked. 

“Basically manipulative, kind of arrogant, mischievous and very much a tortured soul,” Darcy confirmed before grinning wildly. “But a hot one, seriously. I mean those suits…” Darcy reached up to playfully fan herself. “Wow, indeed.” She then dropped her hand and smiled at Frigga. “I have the box set if you wanted to watch one episode?” she suggested. 

Frigga hesitated for a moment, glancing uncertaintly at the TV before smiling at Darcy. 

“Sure, why not?”


	12. Between friends and allies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy is thrilled when Jane arrives for a visit. Thor and Frigga discuss the next step for Darcy's protection

Frigga spent the next few days with Darcy, only making occasional visits back to Asgard to check on the process of Loki’s release. Darcy tried hard to bite on her tongue on this matter and hide her relief at hearing that the process of terminating a sentence had to go through the council and there were a couple of members were slowing the process. However she also felt sorry, whenever Frigga returned with an update that she clearly wasn’t happy about. Darcy supposed that if Loki was released quicker but agreed to stay away, it would be the best thing all round. Still, Frigga had made it clear that Darcy would be safer if Loki was around.

Unwillingly Darcy found herself thinking of what Frigga had told her, and the way Loki had spoken to her. He really had nothing left to lose at that point - his sentence had been eternity yet he could have killed her out of spite after their tryst but instead he’d given her this money. And none of it was dodgy otherwise she would probably be sitting in a cell right now, herself. Wouldn’t that be terribly ironic? Still, she found it difficult to reconcile both these sides of Loki. Whenever she tried, it just gave her a headache.

So she focused on spending time with Frigga, introducing her to Gossip Girl (Frigga was a total Nate fan) and binge watching the series together. Frigga made her some pretty tasty Asgardian dishes with some ingredients she’d brought back from Asgard. The portions were ridiculous sized and so there were plenty of leftovers. It didn’t stop Frigga making another meal though and then storing those leftovers too. By the end of the few days, there were enough leftovers to last for the rest of the week. As though Frigga were leaving soon and didn’t feel that Darcy should cook for herself even if she could.

Darcy wasn’t complaining.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the third day, Darcy found out that Jane was back in the U.S, near Alaska so she messaged her with an invite. In all truth, she missed some normality, as much as she loved having Frigga around. Jane was the closest thing Darcy had to family; one of the few consistencies she’d had in the last three years.

When Jane showed up a few days later, Thor was with her too. Darcy watched him through the kitchen window with several giggles as he struggled out of Jane’s small, silver car, without bashing his head. Poor Thor. Even a larger car would probably still have been too small on him. Jane should probably have upgraded the car once Thor started living with her, Darcy thought. But then again, Thor could fly. Maybe he flew Jane around everywhere.

The thought of flying made Darcy feel physically sick as she watched her friend and her baby’s uncle move up the drive. _Oh great, please not now,_ Darcy grumbled to herself. _Jane’s going to love me for coming forward, smelling of sick._ Darcy placed a hand on her stomach and breathed in. _Go away for a little bit. Go away…_

“Darcy?” Frigga’s voice came from right next to her and Darcy jumped violently, immediately spinning around to face Frigga. Her heart raced frantically at the combined shock and fast movement. Her stomach lurched horribly and her cheeks flushed red. The queen of Asgard read the heated skin and discomfort on Darcy’s face and immediately reached out to place a hand on Darcy’s shoulder. Immediately Darcy felt her heartbeat slow down, a coolness in her skin chasing away the flush and, even better, her stomach began to settle down, taking the nausea away as it did.

She sighed happily, leaning against the kitchen counter. “Thank you,” she told the queen gratefully.

“It’s really not a problem, Darcy,” Frigga told her before moving her hand to her head. “Mortal pregnancies are strange with this sickness issue you have,” she commented once again. Darcy had since learned that Asgardian pregnancies had no sickness though they got increased hormones and some rather strange impulses, and not in the food department. Darcy was both intrigued and wary of how her own pregnancy would proceed considering her child was half human and half frosticle. “I wish I could take the whole sickness away from you but I am unfamiliar with it and doing such a thing could impact the development on the baby’s human side. And I do not wish to do that. But at the very least I can ease it as and when it does flare up,” she offered.

“I’d love that.” Darcy told her.

“And when Loki gets here, he will be able to do the same thing.”

“Great.” Darcy fought back a glare. “Looking forward to it,” she muttered. _Whether he actually does anything will be another matter entirely._ She forced a smile. For now she’d make the most of having Frigga around. She was damn sure Frigga was far more inclined to help her than Loki would be. Especially with his penchant for game playing. She shuddered a little, ignoring the quizzical look that Frigga gave her. “I’m fine,” she explained.

The sound of the bell rang through the house easily; Darcy enjoyed the acoustics of the lounge, they carried the noise easily around. She hurried to the door and opened it with a smile. Jane immediately walked up to her with a grin and wrapped her arms around Darcy, pulling her into a tight hug. Surprised, Darcy returned it, not accustomed to her friend being quite so forthcoming with the affection.

“Hey!” Darcy greeted her, returning the hug and smiling as Jane returned the favour. “Someone’s in a good mood, what’s the oc-” Darcy’s words cut off as she caught sight of a glittering ring on Jane’s finger. “Holy shit!” She grabbed at Jane’s hand and looked up towards Thor who stood in the doorway behind Jane, smiling broadly. “You’re engaged?” she asked. “Jeez, Space Boy, you work fast-”

“We’re not engaged,” Jane quickly told her.

“The ring begs to differ.”

“It’s not an engagement ring,” Thor explained. “It’s a pledge ring.”

Darcy admired the slender gold band that curved around Jane’s finger. In the heart of it, a ruby glittered up at Darcy within the shape of a lightning bolt. It vaguely reminded her of Harry Potter. Something that would suit Harry, if he would even wear something like that, after all he was a Gryffindor and the shape suited his scar. She trailed a finger gently over the stone and a shudder ran through her at once, completely unnatural but not unpleasant either. “Wow, so it’s like a promise ring?” Darcy turned her attention to Jane who smiled.

“Yeah,” the scientist confirmed. “Only for Asgardians, they take it much more seriously than we do.”

“So it’s like an engagement ring but not actually one?” Darcy enquired.

“It’s the physical representation of a promise,” Frigga approached from behind Darcy. “Much like you may have here on Midgard only Asgardians must be entirely certain of their feelings when they purchase the ring,” she explained before gently offering a hand for Jane to place hers into. “See the shine on it? That is the representation of Thor’s love for Jane. If that were ever to change, the ring would lose its shine and the ring would loosen so that Jane could no longer wear it.”

Darcy, who had leaned in to get a much closer look at the ring, gave Thor a look. “If I ever see that ring off Jane’s finger, you and I are going to have words, buddy. And tasers.”

The blonde god laughed heartily. “Duly noted, Darcy. Your protectiveness over Jane is very welcome.”

Darcy grinned and looked back at Jane. “So this is you two definitely committed now.”

“Yes,” Jane’s beaming expression warmed Darcy’s heart. “We’ve been doing a lot of talking.”

“Spending some quality time together.”

“About time,” Darcy argued. “I mean admittedly you didn’t get an awful lot of chance the last… two… times you were together,” she added with a slight smirk that made Jane roll her eyes and Thor chuckle.

“That does tend to happen when one is saving a town, slash city, slash universe,” Jane countered. However her eyes immediately softened as she spoke and slowly withdrew her hand from Frigga’s grasp. “Frigga, it’s wonderful to see you again.” So Jane didn’t have any issues referring to Frigga by her name either - though Darcy supposed that Jane had had more contact with Frigga generally. They definitely seemed very familiar and friendly with each other. Darcy’s thoughts were pulled back to the conversation at hand when Jane spoke to her again. “So…” she shifted on the spot, her smile curving upwards in playfulness. “Can we come in then? Or is the front door where you usually entertain your guests?” she asked, grinning. Darcy grinned back. She enjoyed being around Jane more when she wasn’t working too hard.

“How do you know I’m letting you in?” Darcy countered. “Maybe you’re barred.”

Jane snorted. “What, for not watching that penguin and puppy great adventure video?”

“Yes,” Darcy raised her chin, still grinning. “That was all kinds of awesomeness and cute and you missed out.”

Thor raised a hand sheepishly. “I am with Darcy on that one, it was a very entertaining video, I have to say.”

Darcy’s grin widened. “You may enter,” she joked, stepping aside so that Thor could sidestep into the room which he did. Jane protested with a laugh.

“Excuse me, what happened to the loyalty?!” she declared, placing one hand on a hip.

Thor shrugged his shoulders, grinning at her. “I believe I only swore fidelity to you.”

“Oooh ouch,” Darcy giggled as she stepped out of Jane’s way. “It’s worth letting you in just to see him pay for that,” she decided out loud. Thor’s smile faltered and Jane’s widened as she stepped up to Thor, defiantly.

“Bad move, Odinson,” she told him before she lightly hit him in the side. “I’ll find a way to make you pay for that later.”

He grinned at her. “I look forward to it.”

“Ugh, no, no, no,” Darcy waved both of her hands immediately. “No sex talk please. Just no.” To her astonishment, both Thor and Jane reddened at the remark and both immediately began to shake their heads. Darcy grinned even wider. Either they were both prudes or… well surely not? She folded her arms. “I mean you’re both grown ups and all but please, Thor’s mom is here,” she gestured to Frigga who was beginning to look rather uncomfortable.

“It… this is not so…” Thor was the first to find his voice. “We were not talking about sex…”

“Not what it sounded like to me,” Darcy challenged.

“Shut up, Darcy,” Jane blushed though she did smile. “Thor didn’t mean that at all.”

“I didn’t think so…” Frigga murmured. “But now Darcy has put it in my head. Can we please change the subject?”

“Yes, please!” Jane agreed.

Darcy cackled a little. “Fine. But I love an atmosphere,” she declared. “So this isn’t forgotten.” She noted, to her amusement that Thor looked a little wary and Jane rolled her eyes, relatively used to Darcy. But since Thor wasn’t so much, Darcy enjoyed the knowledge that she could have a bit more fun with him. She closed the door behind them all and smiled at them all. “So, coffee?”

“Yes,” the three voices echoed. Darcy grinned at Frigga who, as well as a love of Gossip Girl, had also developed a taste for coffee. Darcy had suggested she take some coffee beans back to Asgard to plant some trees.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Darcy and Frigga waited until everyone had settled down and were halfway through their coffees as well as the cookies Frigga had magicked up, before explaining to Jane about Darcy’s pregnancy and the vision of Thanos versus Darcy’s unborn child. Jane listened attentively to all of it without so much as a question. So Darcy knew immediately that her friend must be in an extreme state of shock if she didn’t have the impulse to bombard Frigga or Darcy with questions. Instead, she sat in silence, hands wrapped around her rapidly cooling coffee. Frigga asked Thor for a private conversation in the garden but before they headed outside, she whipped up a warming spell on Jane and Darcy’s coffees.

“Jane?” Darcy probed after they’d been left alone. “Are you ok?”

Jane’s face had completely softened. All the superiority, the humour and the maturity had gone out of her eyes. She blinked at Darcy like a lost child. “You’re… you’re having a baby?” she asked. Darcy nodded, sensing that now was not the time to be teasing Jane. Jane sucked in a breath and ran a hand through her beautifully, enviously straight hair. “You’re having _his_ baby…?” she confirmed. Darcy nodded again and Jane brought a hand to her mouth. “Oh god,” she murmured against her fingers. Her eyes immediately sought out Darcy. “Are you ok?” she finally asked after another pause, lowering her hand. “Seriously?” she added, as though she expected Darcy to lie to her.

“Seriously,” Darcy confirmed, sipping from her coffee.

“I thought he was dead,” Jane murmured. Darcy remembered her and Thor coming back from Asgard with the news that had delighted Erik. She could understand the astrophysicist’s reaction and yet part of her had felt sorry for Thor at witnessing it. At least Erik had had the dignity to pretend that he was sorry.

“I didn’t know what to think,” Darcy said, “I don’t know what goes on up there in crazy spaceland. Frigga confirmed he was alive last week,” she added to Jane. “And… well now he’s being released, he might be on the sce-”

“Wait, he’s being released?” Jane echoed. Darcy’s stomach began to plummet. Oh god, Thor hadn’t told her.

“Er… yeah,” Darcy murmured. “Asgard is terminating his sentence, didn’t Thor tell you?” She had a sinking suspicion that she had probably just dropped Thor in it with Jane. Like that wasn’t going to bring about an unpleasant atmosphere. She sighed and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “Then again so much stuff is happening lately,” she admitted, looking down into her coffee. “Maybe he just wants to forget about it,” she finished though she knew that really, she was just channeling her own hopes onto Thor. She didn’t know how he’d feel about his own brother’s release but it was probably far different from Jane’s reaction.

“I don’t know,” Jane admitted. “He should have told me. But what I can’t get my head around is that Loki somehow survived. We saw him die, right in front of our eyes. Thor held him in his arms.”

“Well he sounds pretty healthy for a dead guy,” Darcy shrugged. “Doesn’t he have magic? Maybe he healed himself.”

Suddenly Jane’s face began to cloud over with anger. “Or maybe he just tricked us,” she growled a little. “He made out like he was in that situation with us.”

“Yeah well from what I heard, I don’t think Loki feels honour-bound to play fair,” Darcy shrugged. “Plus he probably saw a chance to escape.”

“But he didn’t escape.” Jane pointed out. “He ended up back in prison.”

“Doesn’t mean he didn’t try. He might have been caught,” Darcy told her. “I haven’t really asked to be honest. I don’t want to think about Loki too much.”

Jane blinked several times before sighing and reaching out to clasp Darcy’s hand. “Of course not. I understand,” she explained before her gaze briefly dropped down to the table in front of Darcy, blocking Darcy’s stomach. “So… how are you feeling about all this?” she asked.

Darcy leaned back in her seat, spreading her arms out across the table in front of her. “I’m… I’m freaking out,” she admitted after a moment. “Not going to lie there,” she told her. “It’s just so huge. And I’m not sure I’m ready to be a mom,” she told her, “and yet I think maybe I could be. But then there’s the fact that this baby is going to be part alien and, what if I can’t look after it? What if I really mess it up?” she asked. “That’s not fair on junior and then what if they end up turning out like me? There’ll be another kid out there who hates their parent for not being able to be a decent parent.” Darcy sighed, lowering her head into her hands and exhaling hard. “I’m just so scared, you know?”

“Darcy,” Jane moved around the dining room table to stand next to Darcy, putting an arm around her. “First of all, _breathe,_ ” she began with a slight smile. “Secondly, there’s no reason at all why you can’t be an amazing mother,” she told her as she took Frigga’s vacated seat next to Darcy. “You’re funny, clever and you don’t give a shit what anyone else thinks. You’re an individualist, Darcy. All of those things would make you a great mom to this kid. A mom, that baby could be proud of,” she told her.

“I don’t know, Jane,” Darcy shook her head. “All I know is that I hope things are going to start calming down soon.”

If only fate was so kind to her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Frigga and Thor returned to the dining room about ten minutes later. Both of them wore identically serious expressions. Darcy exhaled hard and folded her arms across the table, slamming her head down onto the soft flesh of them while Jane patted her shoulder.

“Oh dear god,” Darcy muttered. “What’s happened _now?_ Why do you both look like you’re about to declare my execution?”

“Darcy…” Jane shook her head.

“It is nothing of the sort,” Thor explained as he took the seat next to Jane. “But mother and I have been discussing the situation with the prophecy.”

“Yes,” Frigga agreed. “You will have Asgard’s protection of course,” she started to explain, “but I think we should get some of Midgard’s defenders on board too.” She looked towards her son. “Thor can bring this up with the Avengers.”

Darcy raised her head. “The Avengers…?” she whispered, looking between Jane and Thor. “Are you serious?”

“Of course we are,” Thor told her with a frown. “The Avengers can be trusted, we can trust them.”

“And we’ll get that homeland organization involved - Shield was it?” Frigga suggested.

Darcy sighed. “That agent again? The one who stole our stuff?” she asked, looking to Jane.

“Agent Coulson,” Jane answered quietly. “I’m afraid he’s dead.”

Thor bowed his head. “Loki killed him.”

Darcy scowled a little at Frigga. “Your son makes it very hard to like him.” She muttered, feeling a little bad now about Agent Coulson. It seemed strange that he was dead.

“To be fair,” Frigga reasoned quietly. “He was possessed at the time.”

“Doesn’t mean that he wouldn’t have done it anyway,” Jane pointed out with a frown. “Anyway, nothing about what happened to New York was fair.”

A short silence followed this statement and Darcy and Jane occupied themselves by shooting glances between each other and their coffees. It was Thor who broke the silence this time.

“If we get Shield and the Avengers involved then they can keep an eye on the situation so it’s not all happening under their noses. We can also prepare them for the threat of Thanos and try and get things as prepared as possible.” Thor declared before looking towards his mother. “If you come along, Mother, we can explain things together as representatives of Asgard.”

“So you want me to travel to wherever just to have a bunch of heroes guard me and judge me for having a murderer’s child?” Darcy asked.

“Darcy-” Frigga began to protest but Darcy continued onwards.

“They’ll probably just call the child dangerous and want me to have an abortion,” Darcy objected.

“Or they might want to take the child away and train it as a soldier,” Jane interrupted, not making Darcy feel any better. She looked towards her former employer in exasperation.

“Really, Jane, really?” she asked quietly. She was distracted by Thor leaning over to her across the table.

“Darcy,” he told her, “I won’t let that happen. This is your child. No one will take it away from you.”

“You say that now,” Darcy began, “but when Shield get involved-”

“No, Darcy,” Thor interrupted, his voice impassioned now. “No one will take that child away from you. Do you understand? We will get these people involved for that child’s protection and yours. We can trust the Avengers. They will be behind you all the way.”

“As for meeting with them,” Frigga added. “We were thinking that perhaps Thor and I could go and you two could stay here. We will explain everything and deal with the fallout of how that news is received.”

“They’re going to come after me sooner or later,” Darcy sighed.

“No, we will make them see reason,” Thor insisted. “They will meet with you to help and protect you,” he explained to her. “We will have this place protected or perhaps we can find you a place in Shield-” Even before he was cut off, Frigga was looking at him sharply. Darcy spoke up immediately.

“Oh no, I don’t want to leave this place. It’s beautiful,” she insisted, “and it’s remote,” she pointed out. “I don’t want to live in a mad city.”

Thor pressed his lips together. “I understand but the child’s safety has to come first.”

“Loki will be here,” Frigga pointed out.

“Like we can trust him?!” Jane questioned. “How do we know he won’t harm Darcy?”

“Ummm…” Darcy spoke up with some unease. “I mean if he wanted to… he could have done it after we’d slept together. You know, get what he wanted. Axe that, and all that.” She shot her friend an apologetic look as Jane visibly winced. “Sorry.” She added quickly.

“Or he could just be toying with you,” Jane pointed out. “And you two,” she added, looking towards Thor and Frigga. “I don’t think you can trust him.”

“I understand your concern, Jane,” Thor said in a soothing voice, something that Darcy had never associated with the guy before - he was simply so loud all of the time. He squeezed his… was girlfriend still applicable? Darcy wondered. His promised? That sounded rather adorable. “But Loki has been interrogated with the Rune of Sacred Truth.”

“That sounds like a gaming thing,” Darcy cut in. Thor frowned at her in confusion. Jane gave her a frustrated look.

“What?” Darcy objected. “It does!”

“Darcy,” Jane sighed. “That’s not the point.”

“I’m just saying.”

“My point is,” Thor picked up his train of thought again though Darcy could have sworn she caught him smiling a little more. “He cannot lie and, as reluctant as he was, he did go into the truth about his actions. There is no way to lie while wearing the rune.”

“So we believe his answers,” Frigga told Jane. “My son is not guiltless in all of this but neither is he the only guilty party involved. He has no reason or interest to harm Darcy or his child.” She looked to Darcy. “Besides I will never be far away,” she addressed the younger human. Darcy suppressed a shiver, wondering if Frigga shared her son’s abilities to read minds. She didn’t think so but sometimes you never could tell with Frigga.

Jane still didn’t look satisfied but she folded her arms and nodded. “I’m still not sure about this. Darcy’s going through a hell of a lot.”

“I understand,” Frigga addressed Jane directly. “That’s why I was hoping you would be available to spend a little more time here while Thor and I explain things to the necessary parties here on Midgard.”

“Of course,” Jane answered immediately with a gentle smile at Frigga. She then extended that smile to Darcy who immediately reached for Jane’s wrist.

“Thanks,” she told her.

“I’m not going to leave you alone in this,” Jane assured her. She looked towards Thor and Frigga. “So,” she began, “when would you be going to discuss this?”

Thor, who had his phone out now. Darcy bit back a laugh at seeing his huge muscular fingers, somewhat expertly handle a much smaller iPhone (it looked like). “I am contacting Tony now on this device, to see when he can arrange for all the Avengers to be together,” he explained. “We should go at the earliest time available,” he told his mother who nodded.

“Of course. Time is on our side for now,” Frigga declared. “We should make the most of it.”

Darcy swallowed uncomfortably. “Not really helping there…”

“I’m sorry, Darcy,” Thor told her, a sad undertone to his voice. “You didn’t plan for any of this and neither did your child.”

“I know,” Darcy assured him. “I’m just… so much seems to be going badly at the moment and…” she shook her head. “Never mind.”

“I understand your concern,” Frigga told her. “How about we have lunch and watch more of that Gossip Girl we like?”

“Gossip Girl,”  Thor declared. “Is that the one with that charming Daniel Humphrey? He is a fascinating character.”

Darcy immediately grinned. “ _You_ like Gossip Girl?” she observed with some relish.

“Jane introduced me to it.”

Darcy grinned at Jane.  “I approve. Bravo.”

“He didn’t need much coaxing,” Jane smiled, lightly nudging Thor affectionately. “Anyway, besides the title, the characters are very gender balanced,” she shrugged.

“That’s true, the guys cause just as many issues as the girls,” Darcy agreed. “I think Chuck and Serena should start a club,” she remarked.

“Or Chuck and Jenny,” Frigga remarked.

“After what happened in the pilot episode, I don’t think that would go down well,” Thor put in.

Darcy looked around the table with a great beam of happiness. She had an astrophysicist, two Asgardians and an unborn human-frost giant baby at her table and they were all discussing Gossip Girl. She felt a warm sensation of appreciation ripple through her. The situation she was in, that they were all in, was incredibly messed up but they were here for her and they were all talking about something she dearly loved as well. Darcy sank down a little in her seat, glad that the subject had changed, glad for their support and equally glad that she had plenty of space for their mass viewing later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I thought we would be the ones to fall asleep first,” Jane giggled next to Darcy hours later as she looked over to the couch.

They had watched about six episodes of the show after a filling Asgardian lunch, enjoyed a light dinner and then proceeded to play monopoly for two hours before returning to a Gossip Girl-fest for the next few hours . Frigga had shifted into a sideways lying down position, already peacefully away in dreamland. Thor, on the other hand, had slid back against the seat, his head tilted back and his lips slightly parted as he slept. Darcy was surprised that he wasn’t snoring.

“Same,” Darcy smiled as she paused Gossip Girl. “Who would have thought we could tire two Asgardians out?” she ventured with a laugh.

Jane smiled. “I suppose they both have a lot on their plates.”

“Yeah,” Darcy murmured. Thor had that whole Avenger, Protector of Asgard thing going on and Frigga… well being Queen of Asgard couldn’t be a picnic either especially with Loki’s release and now this whole baby and prophecy thing. She definitely had her hands full.

“Darcy?” Jane murmured after a moment. Darcy turned towards her friend and returned her slightly smile. “I think you’re pretty incredible.” The astrophysicist admitted to her, making her former intern blush.

“Me? Why?”

“You’re coping so well with everything that’s been thrown at you,” Jane told her. “The pregnancy, the dad… this crazy prophecy. You’re keeping your head about this. I’m not sure that I would,” she admitted. “Not to mention that alien stuff you had as my intern. You weren’t paid for any of it and yet you still stayed with me,” she murmured.

“I liked interning with you,” Darcy murmured as she stared at the frozen screen of Chuck and Nate in deep discussion. “And I don’t regret any of it,” she admitted, realising how true that was as she said it. She thought about the way Loki had brought it all up. Once upon a time she might have thought that it was just an objection to unpaid work but Darcy knew enough about Loki by now to know that he was more likely just stirring the pot. And she didn’t really need that going on.

“We did have some fun together, didn’t we?” Jane smiled. “Like that night we stayed up late watching that pair of comets.”

“Yeah with that technology you developed,” Darcy began to grin. “Far more advanced than anything you could buy online,” she laughed. “What did we nickname those comets again?”

Jane began to smile. “Rosie and Jim.”

“Come on, you can’t tell me that those ragdolls weren’t adorable,” Darcy grinned. She remembered how much time she’d spent over at her British classmate’s house for several months, watching Rosie and Jim.

“I can’t say I knew much of that show,” Jane admitted. “Plus I’d had a fair bit to drink when you suggested those names,” she added before placing a hand on Darcy’s knee. “Maybe you could show that show to this little one,” she suggested with a smile. “Maybe even show them some comets.”

“I see what’s happening here,” Darcy grinned, placing a hand on her baby bump. “You want me to groom this kid for being a potential astrophysicist like yourself,” she accused playfully. Jane snorted and held her hands up.

“Fine, you caught me,” she joked. “I couldn’t resist the astrophysicist in me,” she continued with a laugh. “But come on, isn’t it a cute image?” she suggested. “Looking out at the stars at night with them. Making wishes on stars.”

“Jane, you hate it when people do that.”

“I _don’t like_ it when adults do it but when children do it, it’s quite sweet,” Jane admitted. “And anyway,” she added while clearing her throat. “In light of the past few years,” she acknowledged. “It’s not actually doing any harm wishing on a comet,” she told her, “even if there’s nothing magical about them.”

“Wow, Jane,” Darcy grinned. “You really are in love.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jane, Thor and Frigga had been staying with Darcy for a few days when Thor received contact from the Avengers and Shield. The Avengers could meet up with him later that day but only a handful of Shield representatives could be there. The two Asgardians decided that that would be enough and Frigga would transport them directly to Avengers Tower, with Thor getting Tony to message them a picture of the room they would be arriving in.

While the pair of them made their arrangements, Darcy and Jane drove out for the afternoon so Darcy could show her around and they could go into town. Jane made one casual remark about wondering where the nearest observatory was and immediately regretted it as Darcy teased her for it relentlessly. They headed to the nearest town, Seward, for some essentials for Jane where Darcy took her to her favourite restaurant there for lunch. It was an intimate, lodge-like building with a huge crackling fire and many wooden tables, occupying the limited space quite well. It was already pretty full when they arrived. Darcy managed to locate a table for two beside the window. It looked out over the marina.

“This place is gorgeous.” Jane noted admiringly. “Do you come into town often?” she asked. Darcy shook her head.

“Not really, I like the solitude,” she said. “Plus it’s really cosy back at the house at night and the view is amazing.” She and Jane had spent much of last night sitting out in the garden watching the stars twinkle over Resurrection Bay (Darcy loved that name).

“Well I’m not disputing that,” Jane told her, as she looked over the menu. “But doesn’t it get lonely?” she asked.

Darcy thought about it. In a sense, yes it did but the house had a fair internet connection and she could Skype Jane and anyone else she wanted. But  at the same time, Skype wasn’t the be all and end all. She definitely missed Jane and doing things like this: staying up late, watching Gossip Girl and going out for lunch. Going from spending nearly all of her time with the scientist to hardly seeing her except on Skype had been strange.

“It is a little,” Darcy shrugged before smiling at Jane. “But now you’re here so let’s just make the most of it.” Besides, if Frigga and Thor’s plan took hold, Darcy wouldn’t be lonely for very long and even if it didn’t, she wouldn’t be alone in the house forever.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They spent over an hour walking along Resurrection Bay. The air was so fresh here, so clean and natural scented unlike New York and London. Darcy could feel her mind immediately clear as they gazed out of the horizon. A light breeze rippled through her and Jane, stirring across the water like a finger brushing the surface, Every so often the water would tremor with the movement of wildlife beneath the surface. Darcy watched the water intently with a growing smile; already in the weeks she’d been here, she had seen a handful of orcas and plenty of otters. She loved coming down here and trying to lure some otters out with some specially bought food for them.

Nothing beat the time that Frigga and her had crept down to the bay late at night and Frigga had used some kind of magical allure to attract some otters. They must have been soothed by whatever magic she had used as they allowed Darcy to stroke them. It was only when they’d gone back into the water that Darcy had felt a little remorse for basically using magic to coax them out of the water. So she had told herself she wouldn’t do that again. Animals already had it rough with shorter lifespans, poachers and hunters, let alone magic drawing them out of the security of their homes.

This pregnancy may not have been intentional but this was a pretty beautiful place for a child to grow up, Darcy reasoned to herself as she and Jane walked. They could walk along here every day, let the child grow up with the wildlife and a respect for the beautiful scenery around them. Darcy didn’t want to be one of those parents who dictated things for their children but she hoped that her child would at least carry those things with them. If they could appreciate nature and her wildlife and not carry their father’s murderous impulses then Darcy would be content with that. With that aside, maybe they could lead a quiet, pleasant life out here. That is unless Shield and the Avengers stuck their oars in like they had done with Jane’s research. Darcy had everything crossed that they wouldn’t go so far as to do that - she adored everything about Alaska. It was an oasis of serenity in the middle of her crazy life.

“I can see why you’d want to live out here, Darcy,” Jane murmured as she slipped her arm through Darcy’s. “It’s so peaceful.” She laughed a little. “It was so easy to sleep last night, I’m not used to it,” she declared. “I could get used to it,” she mused with a playful smile. “Provided there was an observatory.”

Darcy scoffed. “Oh please, you couldn’t settle in one place. Not with all the travelling you’ve been doing. Visiting all those different labs,” she teased.

“Hey, you never know,” Jane countered defensively. “Thor and I might settle somewhere.”

Darcy wriggled her eyebrows. “With baby hammer wielders?”

“Oh just don’t…” Jane shook her head.

“I get it, babies mean a break from the blessed career, right?” Darcy gave Jane a pointed look. “Plus getting fat, moody and having to push some huge Thor lookalike out of your-”

“Ok, Darcy!” Jane interrupted, grimacing though her eyes still shone with humour. “That was one visual I didn’t need… not yet anyway.”

“Yet,” repeated Darcy. “So you’re not opposed to the idea.”

“No, of course not, I love Thor.” Jane explained as they rounded another curve of the Bay. “It’s just that we are still in the early stages. We may have met three years ago but we need to catch up for lost time. But,” she added with a smile, “when the time’s right, who knows?”

Darcy smiled, leaning her head on Jane’s shoulder. “You’d have such beautiful children.”

Jane laughed, the movement shook her shoulders, vibrating against Darcy’s cheeks. “Well as much as I hate to compliment the guy, it’s not like your baby is going to be wanting in that department either. Between you and Loki, that baby is going to be gorgeous.”

Darcy’s cheeks flushed and she raised her head. “Why, Miss Foster,” she declared. “I don’t think I’ve ever known you to compliment me so much,” she grinned.

“Yeah well don’t get used to it,” Jane joked, huffing a little. “It’s only because I missed your random babble.”

“What was that? I didn’t catch that,” Darcy leaned in sideways.

“You can forget it,” Jane laughed as they began to circle back towards the car again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thor and Frigga were all prepared to go by the time the young women returned. Thor was attired in his Asgardian get-up and Darcy got some satisfaction of noticing the tint of a blush in Jane’s features. Frigga had returned to dressing in the long, draping blue and gold robes. Her hair was thinly crowned by a band of gold.

“I shall see you soon,” she told Darcy as she took hold of her shoulders and kissed her cheek. “Try to relax while I’m away.” She then turned to Jane and did the same. “Look after each other and we should have an update for you in a few days,” she added.

Thor stepped forward to give Jane a slow, passionate kiss, enveloping her in his arms as he did. Darcy side-stepped out of the way and crossed the lounge to the patio doors, looking out over Ressurection Bay with a smile.

“Darcy,” Thor’s voice spoke from behind her, breaking her from her thoughts. She turned to see his blue eyes softened with compassion. “We won’t let you down. We will get the support you need. And we won’t let them take you away from this home of yours.”

Swallowing hard, Darcy felt a wave of emotion choke her throat. “Thank you,” she whispered. His arms wrapped around her in a bear hug and she relaxed into it for a moment or two.

“Careful, Thor,” both Jane and Frigga said at once. Darcy grinned a little at the protectiveness.

“It’s all good,” she assured them as Thor pulled back. “I’ll see you when you get back.” She said to both Thor and Frigga.

“Very well then,” Frigga moved closer to Thor and took his arms in her hands. She closed her eyes as a bright shroud of blue light spiralled around them slowly, entrapping them from head to foot. The light suddenly brightened and seemed to explode into a cloud of blue smoke. As the smoke began to vanish, Thor and Frigga were gone.

“That is so cool,” Darcy admitted enviously as she stepped into the space, reaching up to touch the blue smoke.

“It is very fascinating,” Jane smiled as she joined her.

“Isn’t it just?” The voice came from over by the fireplace; a deep, cultured and _very_ familiar voice, a voice that got Darcy’s heart racing. For good reasons or bad, she wasn’t sure. Pleasant and fearful sensations seemed to intertwine with each other as she listened to the voice. Immediately, Jane and Darcy jerked their heads in the direction of the lounge.

Loki stood there, dressed in full Asgardian, black and green leather and metal, just like the pictures Darcy had seen from his attack on New York and his time in Shield custody. Her gaze wandered over his tight fitting attire for a milisecond before her outrage exploded through her chest. Before she or Jane could speak, Loki grinned at them both.

“Did you miss me?”

 

 


	13. So nice to see you again...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki's return gives Darcy a chance to vent at him especially when he seems determined to wind her up.

“You bastard!”

Both Darcy and Jane screamed in unison at him as they flew towards Loki at the same time. The trickster’s smile began to deepen into a smirk as they approached. Jane would have reached him first but he extended a hand towards her and made a flipping motion. An invisible force yanked her backwards, sending her off the floor briefly. Jane just about managed to catch herself on her feet as she landed, stumbling back against the sideboard against the wall.

Darcy on the other hand was arrested mid stride, frozen to the spot by a pressurising force all around her.

“What the heck? Take it off!” she screamed. “Take it off now!”

Loki continued to smirk at her before walking up to where he’d frozen her. “All in good time.” He told her before walking around her. “You should calm down,” he added with a growing smile. “All that excitement can’t be good for the baby.”

“Oh get fucked,” Darcy spat at him as she looked over her shoulder. She could see that he was approaching Jane, who now seemed to be in a similar position against the sideboard, unable to move. Darcy’s heart vibrated with fear. “Leave her alone!” she called after him. “Leave her alone! Don’t touch her.”

“Oh I can certainly promise you that,” Loki spoke without turning around. Darcy stiffened, remembering the threats from the cell, the many ways in which he could torture or kill someone without touching them. Ice began to gather through her veins as her heart pumped fear viciously through them. She remembered the delicacy in Loki’s voice, the enjoyment he took from listing such methods and the gleam in his eye as he spoke of them. She could feel a tightness rising in her throat, the more she thought about it.

“Please don’t hurt her…. Or kill her!” Darcy shouted again.

That time, Loki really did look back. “You feeble mortals are so unimaginative,” he remarked. “Assuming that those are the only three options I would be inclined to take,” he said as he returned his attention to Jane. “Your presence here is no longer required,” he told her. “I will take over now,” he added. “So farewell.” He raised his hand again and Darcy began to cry out, a wordless, shrieking sound. Loki’s hand twisted and a swirl of green light surrounded Jane in a quick flash. When the light disappeared, so had Jane.

“What the hell?” Darcy cried out as she spun around, the pressure suddenly lifted from all around her.

Loki turned to her with a laugh hovering over his features. “Her presence wasn’t required.”

Darcy, who had crossed over to him, shoved him hard. “Maybe not by you, asshat! What the hell did you do to her?” she declared, pushing at him again.

Loki continued to laugh. “I merely returned her back to her home. London, is it?”

“You fucking jerk,” Darcy spat. “She hasn’t lived in London in ages. Have you any idea how expensive flights are?”

The smirk never let the Asgardian Prince’s features. “I have a rough idea.”

“Bastard,” Darcy swore again as she shoved at him. He made no effort to fight back against her, letting her push him around the room, all the while giving her that annoying smirk-grin that only powered her into assaulting him again. “You.” Shove. “Have.” Another one. “No.” Yet another. “Right.” She hit him harder. “To.” Again. “Barge.” She punched his chest this time, making her hand ache. “In.” She pushed him back towards the lounge. “Like this. So fuck off.”

“My my,” Loki’s grin, if possible, seemed to stretch even wider. “So feisty. Your bedroom antics were nothing like this.”

Darcy’s cheeks blazed red. “You shut that nasty mouth!” she snarled, jerking a finger at him. “You think you can just come in here, throwing your weight around, taking my friend away and thinking that you can just get on with it and that I won’t give a fucking damn, that I’ll just sit and take it! _Do you?!_ ” she snarled.

Anger blazed white hot through her, burning so fiercely that she could feel it behind her eyelids. It was disorientating, as it spread throughout her. She could hear her own heartbeat thumping away like the drums of war. Her breathing was heavy, she could hear it and yet at the same time, all that mattered was that furious sensation inside her.

“You…” she trailed off as her vision suddenly swam and her head filled with dizziness. The lounge blurred into a medium brown blur, interspersed with light from the patio windows. Darcy stumbled forward, feeling her knees buckle but instead she connected with hard leather. Her vision darkened to black and green as arms wrapped around her, supporting her. She felt herself being moved and then one of the arms shifted underneath the knees and she was being swung upwards. Her blurry world tilted upwards and then was completely replaced by blackness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The world was still black when Darcy’s senses began to return. She groaned a little as her hearing cleared up. Faint cries of birds could be heard outside and there was a strong window blowing outside of the house. Darcy breathed in deeply, welcoming the sound of nature. Other senses returned to her: the soft leather of the couch familiar against her skin, the warmth of the house gently brushing her arms and her faces and the comforting impression of home.

Her eyelids felt like they’d been sealed together and it was through a couple of forceful, stretching blinks that she finally opened her eyes. The world blurred immediately. The brown furnishings of the lounge and a dark shade were the first impressions she could make out. Gradually that dark shape began to solidify and define into the familiar figure of Loki. Only he seemed smaller than she remembered. She blinked in confusion until she realised that he was kneeling next to her. Around him, the lounge began to take shape and Loki’s features took shape on his face. His green eyes were dull.

“Stay still,” his exquisite voice counselled her firmly. “Stay very still. You over-exerted yourself considerably.”

Darcy groaned and turned her face away from him, towards the soft cream of the pillow. She felt tired; her body didn’t feel like it wanted to particularly exert itself again. So she remained still. Not just because he’d told her to. The ass. She breathed out again, letting her eyelids flicker shut.

“The baby is still adjusting to your body,” Loki continued, “the Jotunn side of it anyway. Jotunns have considerable more energy and strength than Midgardians. But this baby is trying to find the balance. It’s not ready for that much excitement,” he confirmed. Suddenly she could hear the humour in his voice, “even if it was rather warranted.”

Darcy turned towards him with a scowl. “It was more than warranted, jackass,” she told him with a snarl.

“Precisely,” Loki purred, his lips twisting upwards into that smirk that made Darcy want to punch him. “It was deserved and you did not hold back. Your first instinct was to react, to take me down for what I was doing. You will make an admirable mother,” he declared, “a true wolf protecting her cub. Or in this case, that girl that Thor seems so besotted with.”

Darcy slowly propped herself up on her elbows. The disorientation was disappearing slowly but surely. “If you’ve come here to play games then you may as well just Bifrost it back to Asgard,” she told him with a glower.

Loki’s smirk transformed into a grin. “Did you just use the bridge as a verb?”

“Screw you, grammar police.”

“I believe you already did,” Loki pointed out with a look towards her stomach. For a moment, his gaze softened and there was a gentle light in his emerald eyes. He averted his gaze quickly, looking back up at Darcy, still smiling. “I’m not going anywhere,” he told her, this time with less humour to his voice. He straightened up and looked down at her. “You’re not safe without me here.”

“I don’t feel safe with you here,” Darcy told him.

“My mother doesn’t see false visions. Our child will face Thanos someday and we need to be prepared,” Loki told her, the humour completely leaving his face as he met her gaze.

“I don’t doubt Frigga’s vision,” Darcy argued. “But I don’t feel safe with you and that,”  she gestured over to where the confrontation with Jane had taken place, “little stunt there does not make me feel any better.”

“Jane isn’t needed here, and she is quite safe.” Loki told her. “With her around, I would not have been able to talk to you, without her interrupting.”

Darcy shifted into a sitting position, edging away as Loki sat on the sofa near her feet, reclining into the corner of it. “Why should I talk to you at all?” she asked him. “I don’t trust you.”

“I don’t expect you to,” Loki told her. “I’m not that ambitious.” He looked down at her stomach again. “But the child needs protection that only magic can provide and Mother can not stay here all the time. Besides,” he added, “it’s only right that a child be protected by its father.”

“Don’t even pull that sexist crap on me.”

“Did I not just say how strong you just were? With your instinct to protect those you care about, you have the potential to be a reasonably strong adversary against any who may mean our baby harm,” Loki reminded her. “Within reason. After all, you are human after all.”

Darcy scowled again. “I’m really finding it hard to imagine that you were ever called Silvertongue.” Loki grinned and there was a glimmer of silver that flashed between his teeth. “Are you joking? Is that supposed to impress me?” Darcy challenged. “Just because you can do magic, doesn’t make you father material,” she told him.

For once Loki didn’t give her a retort. Instead he met her gaze with complete seriousness in his. “I know. But the child is also my responsibility. Therefore I will protect it, and you, from harm.”

Darcy pressed her lips together, fighting the temptation to question how he imagined he had the right to anything like that. But still, the baby had to come first and magical protection was better than nothing. So she sighed and folded her arms, wrapping them around herself.

“Are you cold?” Loki asked her, his gaze suddenly intent.

“No,” Darcy shook her head. He frowned a little as he gazed at her, as though he was trying to decide whether to believe her or not. Darcy met his gaze with a stubborn fierceness. “I’m really not,” she insisted.

“I believe you,” he answered immediately. “It’s just curious, that’s all.”

“What is it?”

“Never mind. We’ll see how things go.”

Darcy felt an ache begin in her temples; she didn’t know if it was because she’d passed out or because Loki was giving her a headache. Either way, she was annoyed. She rubbed at them with both hands, sighing and deciding to let the mysterious remark go. “So,” she declared instead, “are you officially released now?” she asked.

He smiled a little. “Yes I am,” he told her before leaning forwards, his mouth curving into a grin that reminded Darcy of that shark from Finding Nemo. “I’m all yours,” he told her. Darcy shuddered before immediately shutting down the thoughts that accompanied the pleasant jolt that spread through her body. “Isn’t it exciting?”

“Exciting isn’t the word I would use,” Darcy mused. “More like freakin’ nuts.”

Loki laughed aloud. “You have such a refreshing way with words, Darcy. Especially when it comes to insulting me.”

“And you’re possibly the only guy I know who seems to enjoy being insulted.”

Loki shrugged. “Always give people what they don’t expect,” he told her. “The uncertainty it inspires is certainly thrilling,” he remarked. “At least it is for me,” he added.

“Is that another reason you vanished Jane?” Darcy griped.

“Maybe,” Loki grinned. “But she was in the way.”

“Not for me,” Darcy muttered. “I wanted her here.”

“Yes well, she can catch another flight over from London, I’m sure,” Loki told her. “She makes enough money, I know that much.”

Darcy opened her mouth to question exactly how he knew that but then she remembered. _The asshat reads minds._ She clamped her lips shut and turned away from him. “It’s a long-ass flight and you’re a jerk,” she muttered.

He merely grinned at her. “Read the legends, Miss Lewis,” he told her. “No one can say you weren’t warned about me.”

“If only we had been,” Darcy muttered darkly. “Then-”

“-things could have been so different,” Loki finished the thought for her, taking her by surprise. “You don’t need to tell me.” He looked around the room with a mild, appreciative glance. “You have good taste for decor,” he told her.

“It’s not my design but I like it,” Darcy shrugged.

Loki looked back at her, gazing into her eyes before looking towards the dining room. “I can see the dining room means a lot to you.”

Anger snapped out of Darcy again. “You don’t get to talk to me about that. That’s private,” she snapped.

Loki was silent for a long moment before he looked away from her. “I apologise,” he murmured. He looked away from her before rising from the sofa, crossing over towards the fireplace. Darcy was momentarily reminded of Mr Rochester from Jane Eyre, how striking a figure he cut against the fireplace. Only now it was daylight and the fire was unlit. Still, Loki was very handsome especially when his features were softened into an expression of thoughtful silence like they were now.

“I still don’t understand,” he spoke softly, not turning to look at her as he spoke. “How I could talk to you in that cell. Like you were some confidente I’d always had or someone who really mattered to me.”

Darcy grit her teeth at once. Rude bastard. And yet she understood his meaning. “I don’t know but I suspect the wine helped.”

“I wasn’t drunk, Darcy,” Loki answered quickly. “Far from it,” he told her. “Even on our alcohol, it takes a long time to intoxicate me. When I spoke to you, I was completely sober.” He swallowed and shifted to lean one arm against the mantlepiece, completing the Jane Eyre image that had been inspired in Darcy’s head.

“Maybe you just needed to talk,” Darcy shrugged from her position on the couch. “From what you told me, that really doesn’t shock me. Besides,” she added. “Some people say it’s easier to talk to a stranger than to friends or family.”

“No,” Loki answered with a harsh laugh, “that’s just a line people use to justify spilling their guts to strangers. I would have said those things long ago if that was the case,” he insisted before looking towards her. “No, there is something about you.” He told her as he looked over. “I’m not sure I like that.”

“You’re a real douche, you know that?” Darcy countered, crossing her arms. “I thought you were supposed to be the one with manners.”

“Manners are overrated when you have seen as much of the universe as I have,” Loki smirked. “There are far more important things to be worrying about, Darcy.”

“I know,” Darcy gestured towards her stomach. “Thanks to you, I know.”

He chuckled. “I think we both had a hand in that, Darcy.”

“If you want to split hairs-”

“I find that hair with split ends doesn’t look particularly pleasing,” Loki grinned.

“Pedant,” Darcy fired back.

“You find it charmingly entertaining, admit it,” Loki told her.

Darcy carefully swung her legs off the sofa, rolling her eyes. “How about you just stop making up shit?”

Loki turned to face her fully. “Take it easy. The baby’s not as strong as you think right now.”

Darcy frowned. “I’m just going to get a drink. I’m not training for the gymnastics.”

Loki scoffed before flicking his wrist. Instantly a mug of Darcy’s favourite hot chocolate appeared in her hands. She opened her mouth to protest but instead the smell of the sugary goodness wafted straight up her nostrils. She closed her eyes in delight although she could practically hear the smirk in Loki’s voice as he spoke.

“I assume that particular mind-reading is to your approval?”

Darcy blew on the scalding liquid. “It’s invasive but it has its uses,” she muttered before looking up at him. “And you’re still not off the hook for what you did to Jane.”

Loki scoffed a little. “I wouldn’t imagine that I was,” he suggested. “But I’m not sorry. There’s too much we need to talk about first.”

“I really don’t think so,” Darcy told him. “And what’s the point of us talking anyway? You seem to have decided what you want to do. Even your mother is insistent upon you staying here and as for us, we just argue.” She slouched over, staring into her drink with a sigh. “I’m sick of arguing and being told what can and can’t happen.”

Loki’s voice was quiet. “You wish you had more of a say.”

“Yeah,” Darcy muttered. She heard his footsteps move towards her though it was his presence she felt as he knelt next to her. She looked up to see him looking at her with a calm, unguarded expression as though he were simply looking at her, looking at her and not reading her mind. Not that she’d be able to tell if he was reading her mind. Usually he gave himself away when he did that.

“I understand wanting to be in control.” He told her quietly. “If Thanos wasn’t part of the equation, I wouldn’t be here,” he added. “I have no delusions that I’m an unsuitable father. But the least I can do is try and keep you safe.” He looked around the place. “This is a large residence. Perhaps I could just keep out of your way.” Darcy swallowed. Damn him with his nice voice and his reasonable logic. She didn’t much like the thought of him being here but it was for the baby’s sake.

“The baby needs to come first. I agree with that. I’ll do anything to protect this child.”

“On that we are most certainly agreed.” Loki answered.


	14. Eavesdropping and eggs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frigga confronts Loki over his behaviour. Loki and Darcy have a heated dispute about the baby.

The next morning, Darcy was awoken by the sounds of arguing. Or rather, she realised as she regained more wakefulness, the sounds of someone being thoroughly told off. The clock on her bedside table read half ten as she climbed out of bed and padded over to the doorway, quietly opening it. The shouting voice became clearer and louder and Darcy immediately recognised Frigga’s tones.

Darcy’s whole body stiffened in surprise. What was Frigga doing back? Had the Avengers decided already? Curious, Darcy stepped out onto the landing and approached the banister where the voices could be heard clearer. It might be her house but from the sharp tones in Frigga’s voice, she didn’t relish the thought of interrupting. Instead, she crept to the top of the stairs and descended two of them grateful for strong, solid wood and the lack of creaks.

“-what in Valhalla did you think you were doing? Thor and I had to talk the Avengers into not raiding this house for you!” Frigga was demanding. “I think that archer is still all for it. You can’t just show up here unannounced, especially a few days _before_ we can get the people on this world ready for your return.”

“Mother, I am hardly here for those people. I am here for this child.” Loki spoke calmly though Darcy heard the humour in his voice. Well at least someone was finding it funny. Frigga just sounded stressed right now.

“Whether you are or not, things would have gone a lot smoother if you had just _waited_ , Loki.” Frigga growled.

“Let me guess. The scientist was the informant?”

“Do you mean the scientist that you vanished home?” Frigga countered. “She was here for Darcy.”

“As I’ve explained-”

“Yes I know you wanted to talk to Darcy in private, Loki,” Frigga interrupted him. “But did you have to send her all the way back to London? Could you not have sent her to Thor?”

Darcy could practically hear the smirk in Loki’s voice. “I thought it was entertaining.”

“Yes well let’s see how entertaining you find it when your brother arrives to pound you in the face.” Frigga answered. Darcy had to shove her fist against her lips to suppress the snigger at Frigga’s use of language and the pleasant visual of Thor showing up to smack Loki in the face.

“He can try but we both know he’ll just fall for the same routine.”

“Not if I block your magic, Loki.”

“You might have been able to do that once, Mother. But I can assure you I have picked up more tricks since those days.”

There was steel in Frigga’s voice. “You are not the only one who has made advancements in your own knowledge, Loki.” Loki was silent and Darcy was immediately impressed. Queen Frigga had some impressive mother skills there. Not to mention kind of a badass streak from the sounds of it.

“So if Jane was the one who told Thor, why did he make my return public knowledge? Surely, as you say, that is simply stirring the pot of trouble?” Loki pointed out. Darcy rolled her eyes as she sat on the top step of the stairs. He could talk. He was the master stirrer of the pot of trouble, in the little time she’d had anything to do with him.

“Thor wasn’t the one who took the call,” Frigga explained. “Steve Rogers was. Jane was understandably frightened after your trick and told him what happened. He then told the rest of the Avengers.”

Darcy covered her face in her hands. Oh god. What were the chances that the Avengers would hold back and listen to Thor calmly now? It was a miracle that they hadn’t turned up last night or this morning for that matter. But they hadn’t heard anything. Darcy had set Loki up in the end bedroom last night and he’d spent a good portion of the evening there while she’d binge-watched Gossip Girl downstairs. Maybe Thor had managed to calm them down. Somehow it didn’t seem likely. Perhaps the Avengers were just waiting to throw Loki off guard and then they would surprise attack or something. Darcy stifled another groan. Then they would barge into her house, probably break stuff if a fight broke out and then there would be shouting, weapons, chaos and headaches for her. She rubbed her temples at the thought of it. After a moment, Loki finally spoke again and Darcy raised a head to listen intently.

“What are they going to do? I’m amazed they’re not here already,” he was saying, sharing Darcy’s opinion.

“Thor managed to talk them around. With Bruce Banner’s help.”

Darcy could hear Loki’s laugh clearly. “I’m sure the… ‘other guy’ certainly didn’t agree with Banner.”

“Loki, enough. You make it very hard for anyone to show you mercy, you know. Much less defend you.”

“I don’t need anyone to defend me. I am old enough and quite capable of doing that myself.” Loki drawled. Darcy wondered if Frigga was eye-rolling at the same time as she was. Rude git. There was a pause before Frigga answered.

“No one is too old to be defended or protected, Loki,” Frigga answered. She then carried on as though Loki hadn’t commented on Banner. “The Avengers are concerned and they do need to be involved but Thor and I are negotiating conditions. Their involvement and that of Shield needs to have as little impact on Darcy as possible. She doesn’t need this stress.”

“I won’t let things get that far,” Loki insisted.

“Loki, you need to play by the mortals rules here if you want their cooperation.”

“I never said I particularly wanted their cooperation.”

“Well it’s not just about you. Darcy needs them involved and besides some of them at Shield are familiar faces. We can try and recruit them on board so she doesn’t have… how did she say it? Faceless guys in suits? So she doesn’t have faceless guys in suits watching her.”

“I suspect I may have killed the only Shield agent she knew well.” Loki admitted.

 _Coulson?_ Darcy’s insides suddenly chilled. She wouldn’t say she knew the agent well but he’d been something of a nuisance on that first adventure but after that he’d been the first point of contact with Shield that she and Jane had known. Her stomach twisted sadly at the thought of his death and a flare of anger boiled up instead. _For god_ _’s sakes… fucking Loki…_

“Oh Loki,” Frigga sounded tired. “You don’t make it easy on yourself at all, do you? Do the Avengers know about…?”

“Yes, Stark insisted on avenging him.” Loki’s tone was unreadable but it annoyed Darcy nonetheless. “Admirable. He took a good shot at me for the man.”

“That’s what people do for their friends,” Frigga told him. “But anyway, we’ll need to keep Shield’s involvement to the same team rather than keep bringing in different people.”

“Not to mention that the less people who know about this, the better,” Loki remarked. “More people increases the chance of the news getting out. And we don’t know who’s out there listening.” Silence followed his words for a few minutes.

“I’m sure Shield can be trusted.”

“Not everyone in Shield can be trusted,” Loki argued. “There are traitors everywhere. I’m willing to bet there are plenty of them in that organization,” his voice dipped a little quieter but Darcy was grateful for the acoustics in the house that carried the sound to her anyway. “You don’t get that many people loyal to a cause without a few snakes in the grass.”

“Well then we’ll make sure that Darcy doesn’t deal with any snakes,” Frigga reasoned. “Anyway, you didn’t say why you couldn’t have just waited for a few days before showing up. I’m sure it wouldn’t have made any difference to Darcy.”

“We are on a countdown, Mother, as you know. We can’t afford to waste any time.”

“Even if it means potentially jeopardizing everything we’re working for?”

“If the Avengers had shown up, I could have whisked Darcy off somewhere safe.”

“And then they would have come after you again.”

“They would certainly have wanted to,” Loki said. “But without clues, they would have had to turn to you and Thor for answers. Thus giving you some leverage to reason with them.” Darcy had to admit, that was a pretty damn good point. It would have meant less chasing though she was annoyed at the image of Loki whisking her off somewhere without her permission at the drop of a hat.

Frigga hesitated and Darcy leaned in a little closer as she waited for the conversation to start up again. It reminded her of being a child, sneaking down the stairs on Christmas Eve one year to watch her foster parents preparing the Christmas presents under the tree. Her foster father wearing a Santa hat, her foster mother an elf hat and both of them kissing under the mistletoe. Somehow Christmases had always been a decent time of year no matter which family she was with and even with any other issues that had been going, she liked watching how much they loved each other. She remembered hoping that they loved her just as much. Two months later, she remembered, she had been back in the system.

“I’m glad you have this figured out, Loki,” Frigga told him with a sigh. “But it would just help if you would have a care to consider our plans before wading in with your own. Loki didn’t respond but Darcy imagined that he was smirking right now. She felt bad for Frigga for having to argue with this guy.

“Well I’m here now. We can make our plans together,” Loki told her. Darcy rolled her eyes. Arrogant bastard. Frigga had been doing a perfectly good job before he came along. She wrapped her arms around herself.

“We’ll see,” Frigga said after a moment. “I need to get back to the Avengers. Banner and Thor did talk the others down but, as I said, the archer, Clint is pretty keen on having your head on a stick.”

“While I’m sure I would make a delicious kebab, please tell him in this instance, I really must decline the opportunity.”

“Loki.” Frigga spoke in that firm, motherly, don’t-you-dare-sass-or-argue-with-me tone and Darcy smiled as she listened to Loki’s silent response. So he did have some respect for someone then. Frigga then cleared her throat. “Anyway,” she continued, “You take care of her. Being pregnant is difficult enough without all of this on top.”

“I’m sure it is. I’ll attempt to keep her stress levels down but they seem to fly up whenever she sees me.”

“Then it seems like you have a job to do, doesn’t it, Loki?” Frigga pointed out. Loki didn’t respond but Darcy was getting the impression that the conversation was drawing to a close. She rose from her seat on the stairs, quietly making her way to her bedroom, not wishing to have the explanation as to why she had been caught eavesdropping

Darcy moved to sit on the edge of her bed and she clasped her hands in her lap. So, the complications had already begun. Well so much for that peace. She had a feeling that things were about to start really kicking off.

*****

The smells of fried eggs and bread lured Darcy downstairs an hour later. She’d drifted back to sleep after her eavesdropping session only to wake up and find her door closed. She had left it open when she’d gone back to bed. She wondered if it was Frigga checking on her or Loki. She shuddered at the thought of him watching her while she slept. She did not need that visual especially not after listening to that conversation.

She’d changed into a baby blue t-shirt and jeans when she came down and had tied her thick hair into a messy ponytail. So far no nausea this morning. Though she’d already read the horror stories of afternoon and evening sickness so she was prepared. She shuffled into the kitchen with her light blue slippers.

Loki was stood over the hob, frying some eggs. Two plates full of bread were already laid out and there were a fair few eggs in the pan. Darcy wondered if they were going to be having some company.  “That’s a lot of food for two people,” Darcy told him as she hovered in the doorway. “You do know I’m just carrying the one baby right?”

Loki smiled without turning around fully. “You are carrying a half Jotunn in there. It will have a bigger appetite than you expect.” He glanced over at her. “Have you not felt your appetite growing bigger?”

Darcy shook her head. “Not really.” Loki immediately stiffened, reminding Darcy of when he’d asked about her temperature and been surprised by that answer too. “What?” Darcy asked as Loki seemed to shake himself and go back to cooking. “What is it?” she demanded.

“Nothing to worry about,” Loki told her. “The pregnancy just seems to be developing slower than I anticipated,” he explained. “Probably the human in the baby.” Darcy scowled at him. Rude bastard. She pursed her lips and ignored it for now.

“How about you have some breakfast,” Loki suggested as he scooped the eggs and began to lay them out on both plates. “This should build your strength up. You’re going to need it.” Darcy didn’t point out that it wasn’t just the pregnancy she was going to need her strength for. Instead she just leaned against the doorway while Loki proceeded to pour them both pineapple juice into large glasses. He clicked his fingers and the entire meal vanished.

“What-?” Darcy was about to say before Loki moved over to her, guiding her out of the room by her shoulders until they walked into the dining room. The meal was set out there as well as the presence of some lavender in a curvy vase in the middle of the table. Darcy raised an eyebrow at Loki.

“Flowers?”

“Lavendar is calming.”

“I’m calm.”

“Then the flowers will not do any harm, will they?” Loki asked. She wrinkled her nose before taking a seat. Loki sat opposite her. “Bon appetite,” he told her.

Damn him trying to make her seem like the irrational one, Darcy thought as she picked up the glass of pineapple juice and began to take a sip. She was doing perfectly fine before he came along. As she began to eat, Darcy found herself longing more and more for the day or so she’d had to process her pregnancy before he’d come along. Sure it had been scary as fuck but at least it had just been here and the baby. Although as soon as she’d thought that, she felt a flutter of guilt in her stomach. Frigga had done nothing wrong. Ok, Darcy decided, if she was going to wish to go back in time, she’d go back to when Frigga was there. The queen of Asgard was surprisingly great company and a lot more calming to be around than her grade A asshole son. Darcy didn’t care how good looking he was, he was still an ass.

She had raised her fork halfway to her mouth when she caught Loki smiling a little to himself. Darcy wondered what the cretin was up to now before she remembered.

_The bastard can read minds._

Darcy was glad she hadn’t eaten anything just yet or she might have choked. Her insides began to boil and she had to grip her cutlery tight so as to not throw it at him. If he had just been listening, oh she could guess which of her thoughts would have entertained him the most.

“You know,” she said before biting her piece of egg and swallowing it down, “it’s fucking rude to read minds whenever you feel like it.” She tilted her head. “Of course it’s also rude to bring an alien army down to destroy Manhattan but hey, I figured we should start small.”

Loki looked up at her, his smile widening and infuriating her even more. “But you have such a delicious mind to read, Darcy,” he practically purred. Darcy tightened her grip on her fork and resisted the urge to flip him off. “How can I resist taking a peek at your amusing little thoughts?” he continued. Ok Darcy could happily punch him now. “Especially when they speak so flatteringly of me."

“Believe me that’s the only flattering thing about you, jerk,” Darcy growled at him. “If you want to read at the table, get a book or a newspaper. You stay the hell out of my mind. What’s in there has nothing to do with you!”

Loki laughed. “One can never forget how fiery you are, Darcy. But then it’s one of your most attractive qualities.”

Darcy pulled a face between mouthfuls of egg. “And your talent for being a patronizing swine has not one of yours.” She washed down her food with another sip of her drink, silently fuming at the fact that Loki didn’t seem particularly perturbed by her comment. Unfazed as usual. The bastard. In fact he was still chuckling as he ate.

A few moments of silence followed as they ate and it was only when Darcy took a moment to take a break from the delicious but filling taste of the eggs, that Loki spoke again. This time his pale face was narrowed questioningly.

“Is something wrong?” he asked.

“No,” Darcy frowned defensively. “I’m just taking a break.”

Loki looked at her with an extremely sceptical expression. “A break?” he repeated.

“Yes, a break. Don’t you people ever take breaks in a meal?” Darcy asked, growing steadily more annoyed now. “Oh wait,” she added, “I forgot. You eat wild boars whole don’t you?”

She waited for Loki to find amusement in her comment or scoff at the thought. But instead he was frowning even more. Darcy raised an eyebrow. Surely he hadn’t actually taken offence to her comment, had he? That seemed pretty stupid and Darcy wasn’t about to care if he had. He’d said and done worse things.

“Why isn’t your appetite bigger?” he suddenly asked although it was a question he seemed to be directing to himself mainly but the level of irritation in his voice surprised Darcy.

“Eh?” she asked.

“You are carrying a half Jotunn child in there. Jotunns are like Aesir. They have very big appetites,” Loki explained, his eyebrows so narrowed together that they seemed to form a line. “They wouldn’t need to pause between meals.”

“Oh for god’s sake!” Darcy complained. “That’s an adult Jotunn, you’re talking about.”

“No it’s not,” Loki argued and his eyes met hers properly. “Infant Jotunns and… unborn Jotunns would need a hell of a lot more food than what I’ve just made for you, to grow strong. Their appetite would be immense.”

Darcy hesitated. “You’re saying I should be hungrier.” Worry began to peck its way into her stomach. She lowered her fork with a frown. “You think something’s wrong.” She folded her arms on the table as she realised something. “You said that baby Jotunns need a lot more food than you made. But you don’t make any more. You were testing me?”

Loki carefully lowered his cutlery and clasped his hands together on the table. “Yes, I was,” he answered without any hesitation. “I wanted to see your appetite. I’ve been curious about it since I arrived.”

Scowling at him, Darcy picked up her glass and drank some of the juice. “Or you could have just asked me like a normal person. But then again it’s you.”

Loki ignored the barb. “You should be hungrier, Darcy.”

“You know you’re forgetting that this kid is half human,” Darcy pointed out. “That could be why my appetite’s not that big.”

“Even fully Midgardian babies provoke more appetite from their mother in the womb.”

The worry that had nested in Darcy’s stomach began to build upwards, tightening her stomach.

“And how would you know all that? How do you even know about Jotunn-human babies,” Darcy challenged. “Got many women pregnant have you?”

“You are carrying my first child.” Loki responded. “And if you must so, I’ve done my research although… there is no record of a human-Jotunn baby so far as I can tell.”

Darcy’s eyebrows shot up. “So then how do you know something’s wrong for sure? Maybe this baby just doesn’t have a big… appetite…” Even as she voiced that thought, she realised how strange that sounded. Her gut instinct was telling her that maybe Loki was right. She should be eating for two and she wasn’t.

Loki could have taken the moment to gloat about being right but instead Darcy saw him rise from the table and move around to her side. She looked at him and tried to swallow the wave of anxiety that suddenly spread through her.

“Darcy, let me examine the baby,” Loki said, “let me check they’re alright.”

Darcy sucked in a deep breath. Her heart rate sped up and she felt a lightness in her head as her heart began to pound. What if something was wrong and she hadn’t noticed? Oh god, what kind of mother would she be if she couldn’t realise something like this?

“Darcy,” Loki’s voice penetrated through the mist of panic that had lowered over her mind. “Darcy,” he repeated again. This time she felt a hand on her back. The physical touch snapped her out of the fog. “Come on Darcy,” Loki said.

She inhaled long and then got up from the table with him. He led her into the living room and gestured for her to lie on the couch. He then knelt to her side and placed a hand over her stomach. Darcy’s throat tightened and the instinct to push him away shot up. But she withheld it as his hand pushed up her top and then lay atop her bare skin. Memories of the last time he’d touched her stomach like that flooded back to Darcy and she felt her cheeks warm.

Suddenly there was a strange sensation and a purple light spread out from Loki’s hand and covered her stomach in a circle. Out of the circle of light, a shape rose and floated into the air. It was as purple and glittering as the rest of the light. It shifted in the air until it took on the shape of a baby. Like the image from Darcy’s ultrasound. The baby was curled up, shifting a little in the light.

Darcy looked at Loki for a moment. So this was like a magical ultrasound?

He smiled a little and looked at her. But he turned back to the baby and said nothing. With his other hand, he cast different coloured lights at the image of the baby. The image absorbed them all.

“What are you doing?” Darcy asked.

The light around her stomach thrummed. Loki glanced at her.

“Stay calm. I am testing the baby for any deficiencies.” Darcy hated the word. It made her sound like she’d been neglecting her baby on purpose. But she kept quiet as he examined the light fetus. Suddenly it glowed white and Loki breathed a sigh of relief as the white faded just as quickly.

“Is everything okay?” Darcy asked, the anxiety thick in her voice.

“It’s very well, Darcy. The baby’s fine. It’s…” Loki smiled a little, “it can’t quite feel hunger yet. The nutrients you are taking in are suffice for now.”

Darcy frowned. “But I’m three months gone. It should be needing more food soon.”

“You’re talking like this pregnancy is a standard human’s,” Loki pointed out. “I don’t know if Mother has guessed this already but the gestation period for our people and Jotunn’s-”

“-is between one and two years,” Darcy recalled. “Yeah, your mother told me.” She had forgotten that it would likely be a year pregnancy. It was just strange to get her head around. So it would be a summer baby, she thought to herself. Alaska must looked beautiful in the summer. A perfect place to bring her child up.

“So it makes sense that the baby’s need for extra food hasn’t developed yet.” Loki assured her. He waved a hand and all of the magic disappeared. He rolled down Darcy’s top and Darcy suppressed a shiver when he touched her skin. He offered her a hand and she took it to get up and off the couch. “Well that’s good to know.” He said though a little smirk touched his lips.

Darcy glared at him. “So you worried me for nothing!” she grumbled.

“It was a legitimate concern,” Loki told her. “No harm done.”

“There’ll be plenty of harm done to your hair,” Darcy growled, “when I tip those eggs over your head.”


	15. Advice and arguments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Advice and arguments ensue as Loki and Darcy clash over the welfare of the baby.

The next day Darcy woke up at 6am - which, frankly sucked. She was proud of the fact that she had attuned her body not to awaken at ungodly hours unless it was work. So that only left one culprit.

“You better be seriously cute, cupcake,” Darcy muttered, hand on her flat stomach as she crept downstairs. She tugged her baby blue dressing gown around her as she entered the kitchen, vaguely wondering if the baby was going to match her dressing gown if it went into frosty mode. She might ask Loki about that later. Or about Jotunns in general. So far all she knew was that they were blue and sub zero temperatures. And, in Loki’s case, also hot ironically. But she pushed that last thought away. She was already in quite the predicament because she’d thought that about Loki about fourteen weeks ago.

She turned the coffee machine on and wandered into the living room, looking out into the garden.

Suddenly a figure raced past the window and Darcy let out a shriek of surprise. The figure, who had started to run down the  garden, stopped too and looked back at her. It was Loki, dressed in some black sleep pants and nothing from the waist up, giving Darcy a familiar view of his chest. His nicely toned, very lean yet still quite muscular- No, Darcy, she told herself. Been there, done that, got the baby. Loki was grinning at her and any desire Darcy might have had immediately vanished as she turned back inside.

Ass.

She glanced back once to see he had resumed running around the garden. She hadn’t put him down for the training type. That was Thor and yet Loki must train, she reasoned. He was pretty strong. She resumed making the coffee and trying to shake of thoughts of how good he’d looked running out there, his muscles rippling a little. She distracted herself by adding some more sugar to her drink and then carrying it into the living room. She watched a little of the morning news, which didn’t have much on except a forewarning of stormy weather in a few days. Wasn’t going to make any difference to her, she didn’t plan on leaving the house.

Time passed, turning into half an hour and then an hour and every so often Darcy would glance towards Loki. Was he _still_ training? She wondered to herself as she reclined on the couch. She couldn’t imagine training for half an hour without needing a break let alone a full hour. Another half hour had passed before she heard the back door open and Loki walk in. She pretended not to notice as she stared ahead at the TV.

“Did I startle you this morning?” he asked, his voice ridiculously full of glee as he did.

Darcy considered ignoring him. “I thought you were a crazed burglar.”

She could practically hear Loki’s grin. “Crazed?”

“What kind of burglar breaks into a place without a shirt?”

“So you noticed that,” Loki smirked as he walked into view. His torso was glistening with sweat and his hair clung to the sides of his face. His smirk was infuriating but combined with the shiny, post work out look, it also looked extremely hot. Darcy hated him even more. She seriously doubted she looked that good when she exercised. That just wasn’t fair.

“I noticed a lot of things,” Darcy retorted.

Loki laughed. “I could get used to girls screaming for me.”

“As opposed to screaming in terror,” Darcy growled, annoyed and trying to hide a flush that was creeping into her cheeks.

For a moment it seemed she’d hit a low blow. Loki stared at her expressionlessly for a few seconds before he began to laugh. “Touche,” he said before he moved aside as Darcy got up. “Don’t leave on my account.”

“Don’t flatter yourself,” Darcy fired back. “I’m only getting coffee.”

As she moved into the kitchen, she heard Loki step up behind her. “You know coffee’s bad for the baby right?”

Darcy hesitated. “I thought this baby was stronger than a human baby. Anyway I don’t have loads.”

“Jotunns are especially allergic to coffee.” Loki told her with a deadpan expression.

Darcy’s insides flooded with horror. “What?!”

Loki nodded once. “Deadly.” Then after a moment he cracked up. “Your face. Coffee has no effect on our child.”

Darcy saw red. She punched him in the chest.

When she followed it up with a second punch, Loki caught both fists and pulled her to him. “You’re gorgeous when you’re feisty,” he told her in a low voice. He held her there and suddenly Darcy was aware of just how close they were. She was breathing harder than normal and Loki’s body radiated heat. Suddenly her skin tingled where he held her wrists and her heartbeat began to speed up. The proximity of their bodies sent pleasurable sensations through her. And yet…

Darcy pulled away with a jerk. “Bastard,” she muttered as she stormed out of the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Darcy came down, Loki had already showered and made a start on breakfast. As loath as she was to let him do anything for her, there was no reason to let the baby down especially when it smelt so damn good. He’d made french toast this morning. As they ate in silence, she could feel him watching her now and again. She finished her meal quickly and began to clean up. As soon as she’d done that, she made her way back to the television again.

“Is that what you’re going to do all day?” Loki asked as he took a seat at one end of the couch, “watch TV all day?”

Darcy shrugged. “I don’t have anything else on. What’s it to you?”

“You haven’t left the house once since I’ve been here,” Loki pointed out. There was no humour in his voice, just curiosity.

“So?” Darcy challenged. “I like staying home some days.”

“It’s not good for you to be stuck inside. You should go out and get some fresh air.”

“I can go in the garden.”

Loki gave her an exasperated look. “You need to go out properly, Darcy.”

“Who are you? My health advisor?” Darcy snapped, grabbing a cushion and resting it in her lap. She focused her gaze on the television but aside from seeing a programme about swans come on, it was difficult to get into it. She hadn’t really thought about how long it had been since she went out. What importance was it, anyway? She was taking care of herself and the baby? She had no reason to go out, not yet and she was quite cosy here.

“No, I’m here to protect you and the baby,” Loki said scooting down the sofa towards her. “And, like it or not,” he insisted, drawing Darcy’s attention from the television, “I’m the father of that child. It will do you both good to leave the house.”

“What exactly do you propose I do? Wander around doing nothing for a few hours?”

Loki leaned back against the couch. “I could take you to lunch. You could show me around the place.”

Darcy gave him a sceptical look. “Are you really that interested in the landscape?”

He shrugged. “It won’t hurt to know the area. Besides wouldn’t you want to do shopping? Girls like that don’t they? Well Midgardian ones.”

Darcy kicked at him, her fury only worsening when Loki laughed. “Cut the sexist crap.”

“I didn’t say there was anything wrong with that.”

“Stereotypical swine,” Darcy rolled her eyes.

Loki laughed even more. “Oh, your fire is to be admired, Darcy. You are going to make an excellent mother.”

Silence followed his words as Darcy processed them. She hadn’t expected that. But then that was Loki all over. Unexpected. Kind of an ass but unexpected. She looked down at the cushion, not answering him.

“I can see our baby will be in good hands.” Loki added in a slightly quieter tone. That brought Darcy’s attention back to him. Our baby, he’d said. While that was technically true, he’d only been talking about the child as though it were some charge of his to protect. Saying ‘our baby’ made it sound like he was starting to really care- no, Darcy told herself. They’re just words. He’s good at words, she reminded herself.

“Well yeah I’m gonna do my best for this baby,” Darcy declared, holding his gaze.

“Which is why you should go outside. Not stagnate in here for the next nine months.” Loki pointed out.

“I never said I was gonna stay indoors for a year,” Darcy glared at him.

“No but it’s an easy jump. This baby needs you to be active and healthy. Besides we should start preparing.”

“Preparing-?” Darcy echoed. “You mean baby stuff? It’s a bit early isn’t it?”

“And you’d rather wait until you’re too big to stay on your feet for too long and having to make lots of tiny trips to get everything our child needs?”

“Er… have you not heard of Amazon? Or shopping online? I can get anything delivered here.” Darcy fired back. “Technically I have you. Can’t you just magic the stuff here and leave some money?”

“I could,” Loki answered with a smirk. “But I’m not going to. Besides,” he added wickedly. “How do you know I’d leave the money?” he asked.

Darcy really scowled at him then. “Fine. I’ll order online then.”

“No,” Loki leaned in. “Don’t be so lazy. It’ll be good to go out and actually see the items. We can make sure they’re quality and you can get off the sofa for a few hours.”

“You know I’m having morning sickness. What if I get ill while we’re out?”

Loki crossed one leg over the other. “I can put an anti sickness spell on you.”

Darcy gave him a death glare. “You can do a spell like that? And you didn’t say anything.”

“Anti sickness spells are not for lazy people. They’re for expectant mothers who give themselves some exercise.”

“You make it sound like all I do is slob around,” Darcy argued.

“Actually,” Loki argued back and he was starting to sound annoyed now. “I didn’t say you were slobbing around. I said you hadn’t left the house. So don’t put words in my mouth. I am quite capable of doing that myself.” Stung, Darcy threw the cushion at him. Loki sighed. “Darcy, believe it or not, I am actually trying to help you and the baby.”

“No you’re not. You’re just trying to boss me around, stay in control.” Darcy growled. As soon as she said it, she partly regretted it. It wasn’t fair but she wasn’t feeling charitable right now and anyway, he was the one making jokes and testing her to see if she was going to be a good parent or not. He was lucky she hadn’t smacked him in the face yet. There was still time though. And if he carried on like this then it would become a certainty.

“Violence is not good for the baby,” Loki commented and Darcy snapped.

“Fuck off, Loki!” she shouted, getting to her feet and storming out of the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She knew she shouldn’t hide in her bedroom but right now it was one of the furthest rooms from Loki and Darcy didn’t want him to see the tears that were sliding down her face. As much as she kept wiping them away, more came.

Was she really that bad of a parent already? The joke about the coffee, the concern about her appetite and now she was being called out on for not leaving the house enough. Was that last one even a real concern? What did Asgardian women do when pregnant? Go jogging? Light sparring? She wasn’t one of those women. She’d been sure that she’d been doing a good job so far. But apparently it wasn’t good enough for Loki.

Well Loki could get stuffed, she was doing the best she could and she wasn’t going to let him see that he’d made her doubt herself. She knew what was best for her baby. Not him.

“My intention was not to make you doubt yourself.”

Darcy jerked her head up to see Loki lingering in the open doorway. Darcy could have sworn she’d closed it but maybe she hadn’t done it properly. She would have heard it open. Even so Loki was freakishly silent which didn’t help. She wiped at her eyes with a glare. “So it was just to be a jerk, was it?” she muttered.

Without asking, Loki stepped into the room and sat next to her on the bed. “I am concerned, Darcy,” he told her earnestly. “But not that you’re a bad parent.”

“Really?” Darcy snapped at him. “You’re quick enough to make jokes about what I’m eating or drinking.”

“It was harmless humour, that is all,” Loki explained to her before he placed a hand on her wrist. “It was meant to be.”

Darcy looked away from him. “I’m not going to be an irresponsible parent and I don’t plan on being a hermit,” she said.

“I know,” said Loki. “But I still think a day out would do you good. Especially now. We could go out for lunch, you can show me the area and relax. We can take a look around these stores and see if there are any quality things for the baby too.”

“It is really soon for that though,” Darcy said.

Loki gave her a contemplative look. “It’s never too early to prepare.”

“Not true,” Darcy admitted. “Things can happen very early on. And later but they usually happen early on…” she murmured, looking down at her knees.

Loki stiffened. “You’re worried about losing the baby?” he asked. “Darcy, I put protective spells on our child last night. It will save them from anything in the womb that could induce a miscarriage naturally.”

She blinked and looked at him. “You did?”

“While I was scanning for weaknesses.” Loki assured her. “Our baby is going to be fine as long as you’re safe.”

Darcy exhaled, feeling a little of the stress easing out of her now. She placed a hand over his.

“So why don’t we head into town and get some fresh air?”

Darcy thought about it. “Okay,” she said before adding. “But only if I get that nifty spell.”

Loki chuckled. “Consider it done.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 


	16. Beaches and baby talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy and Loki take a walk along the beach and talk some things over.

Loki, it seemed, could not dress casual. Even when he was out of his Asgardian attire, he often wore a shirt and smart trousers. When he stepped out with Darcy, he was dressed head to toe in a full black suit. Darcy felt so under-dressed next to him, dressed in some black jeans with a black t-shirt, printed with the design of a pink flower and blue bubbles. She wore a black knee length coat with it and a thin pink scarf that pinned most of her hair down.

Darcy made to go towards the car but Loki stopped her. “Show me where you want to go,” he smiled. “I’m faster.”

“You say that…” Darcy joked but she closed her eyes, imagining a corner of the beach near the town. She chose a corner that was usually pretty quiet. If Loki was going to use magic they didn’t need to be conspicuous.

“Allow me to prove myself,” Loki grinned, offering his arm. Darcy raised an eyebrow. She’d half expected him to just grab her or sweep her up. But she took his arm.

“We’ll see.”

It was nothing like the sensations of portal travel or apparition she’d read in books. There was a warm sensation around her, like she was being cocooned in something safe and yet exhilarating all at once. In the next moment, she felt the softer ground beneath her boots and there was a salty wind blowing through her. Suddenly the house, her car and the drive were all gone and she and Loki stood in the shadows of a slope leading up into the town.

“Voila,” Loki smiled.

Darcy had to give credit where credit was due. “Okay that was pretty ace,” she told him as she walked around to the slope. She hesitated when she saw Loki looking down the beach. “Something wrong?”

“No,” Loki answered with a smile. “It’s just a nice beach. Perhaps we can go for a walk later?”

Darcy turned back towards him. “I don’t see why we can’t walk now,” she said as she stepped back down on the sand next to him. “It’s…” she glanced up at the heavy clouded sky and the patches of grey and white stretching over the horizon, “sorta nice out,” she finished with a slight grimace.

“If that’s what you want,” Loki said but he looked pleased about it. Well as genuinely pleased as an asshole like him could look but Darcy would take it over any more jokes or arguments with him. She slid her hands in her pockets and they began to walk down the sand together.

They walked in silent for a little while, listening to the water lapping against the shore and hearing the cries of gulls up ahead. In the distance there was the quiet bustle of people in town. It was all so normal, Darcy thought, bemused. And here she was strolling along the beach with the Asgardian criminal who got her pregnant after a few hours in his jail cell. If this wasn’t a story for Ophrah, she didn’t know what was. Sometimes, just for a second when she woke up, she’d expect to find herself back in London or New Mexico. Jane and Erik talking about whatever project they were working on. The sounds of ordinary life going on around her. But now she woke up in peaceful silence, until she got up and faced Loki.

Darcy honestly had mixed feelings about it. Sure, Loki was probably the universe’s biggest cretin. Or rather he seemed to act that way. But she couldn’t shake the memory of him opening up about why he’d attacked Earth, why he’d ruined his brother’s coronation and why he was so messed up. Darcy’s instinct told her that he’d been honest about all of that. It was pretty messed up. Too much to be faked. And yet he’d told her.

Why? He was the mind reader. He could have fooled her into thinking he was being honest. He could have taken advantage of her telling the truth while telling her a pack of lies but he hadn’t. _Maybe he needed to tell someone,_ her instinctual voice spoke to her. The interesting thing was that he hadn’t mentioned anything of what he’d told her since he’d come to stay with her. _Maybe he thinks I_ _’ve forgotten. Or maybe he’s ashamed._ A few possibilities ran through Darcy’s head as they walked along the beach, still in silence. _He probably regrets opening his mouth to me._ Still, it had worked well in his favour - he was free now. He got to be here with her, waiting for his child to be born.

The trouble was, Darcy was getting her head around him being here as a protector. She had no choice and she’d do anything to protect her child. But she didn’t know how involved Loki would want to be on the ‘Dad’ front. She was barely getting her head around the fact that she was going to be responsible for this tiny person. Let alone dealing with Loki wanting to play dad. If that was what he wanted. It was unfair that he was so readable and yet her mind was an open book to him.

Darcy internally panicked. Shit. Here she was, internally monologuing and she was walking next to a mind reader. She looked towards Loki but, he seemed distracted. His gaze had shifted out over the waters and there was an expression on his face that Darcy hadn’t seen before. It looked like peace. Like he was settled here. Oh Darcy, stop trying to read him, she told herself with a sigh. Instead she decided to ask him.

“You like beaches, huh?”

Loki looked at her like he was surprised she was there. Darcy felt a moment’s regret about having disturbed him from whatever world he was on. He smirked and Darcy lost all sympathy. “It’s pleasant,” he answered.

Darcy scoffed. “Oh so you’re too cool to admit you like them?”

Loki didn’t answer.

“I bet they have awesome beaches in Asgard.” She awaited a snarky response but it didn’t come.

“They’re extraordinary,” Loki answered. “But they are on the edge of the realm so we do not often visit them.”

“You who can poof to places?” Darcy asked.

Loki snorted very quietly. “Darcy, I don’t ‘poof’ places. I transport myself.” He looked at her with some amusement.

“Sure if you get posh about it. But you totally poof.”

“Poofing makes a sound, Darcy.”

“I’m not being literal, idjit.”

Loki chuckled again. “Whatever.” He slipped his hands inside his trouser pockets. “Even someone as magical as myself was busy a great deal of the time.”

“Were you like court sorcerer or something?”

“No,” Loki’s voice had sobered up somewhat. “There was talk about it but I spent too much time with Thor and his friends or studying, to have the time.”

“Fighting battles and aliens and stuff, I guess?” Darcy asked.

Loki laughed again. “There wasn’t war all the time, Darcy. But admittedly much of their time together was either training or in the tavern. Hence why I often took a great deal of time to study.”

Darcy smiled. “You must have read a hell of a lot of books in your time. Being over a thousand years old and all.”

“You could say that,” Loki agreed smiling himself. A proper smile, not a smirk, Darcy noted with a feeling of triumph in her chest. So he was a reader, huh? Like her. Admittedly he did seem more of the type than Thor did.

“I absolutely devour books,” Darcy declared. “One day I’m gonna set one of these rooms up as a library. Wall to wall books, a few sofas, lots of cushions. It’ll be a real paradise.”

“And it would be good for the baby to have access to so many books,” Loki said in a tone that sounded a little wistful. After a long pause, he looked at Darcy and stopped. “You know, I could make it happen? That library of yours.”

Darcy stopped and Loki followed suit, giving her an intrigued look.

“What?”

“What’s the catch?” Darcy asked.

“And why does there have to be a catch?” Loki asked but the bastard was smirking.

“Because you said, you _could_ make it happen. Not that you _would._ ”

“My my we are entitled aren’t we?” Loki chuckled.

Darcy stiffened. “I am _not_ entitled.”

“You would have me do all these things for you after what I’ve already done?” Loki looked highly amused now.

“Hey I didn’t demand this. You sort of offered.” Darcy fired back. “And don’t brag about being the one to knock me up.”

Loki pursed his lips. “You humans have a very strange phrase for pregnancy. The only thing knocking was the headboard.”

Darcy’s cheeks flushed and she whacked him in the arm.

“What a violent woman I’ve impregnated,” Loki snorted. “I was talking about the money I gave you.”

Darcy reddened again. “Well… like I said, I didn’t ask. I just- you were offering! Or at least I thought you were.”

Loki grinned again. “You’re so easy to wind up, it’s cute.”

Darcy rolled her eyes. “Cut the crap, Loki.”

“But it’s so much fun.” Loki smirked before he suddenly surprised Darcy by putting his arm around her. “I thought you were a bit more savvy than that Darcy.” He laughed as Darcy scowled at him.

“In case you didn’t notice, jerkface, I am carrying your baby inside me which is playing screwy with my hormones.” She argued before fake sniffling. “Have a bit of respect for the mother of your child please.”

Loki scoffed. “Oh very good, Darcy,” he told her as he applauded slowly. “Blame the baby,”  he added with a grin.

“Don’t you pull that one. You’re insulting me. Anyway,” she added, folding her arms. “I’m not blaming the baby. I’m blaming the hormones,” she retorted, smirking herself. “Just wait until I get much bigger and my hormones are all over the place. Good luck with that.”

“What makes you think I’ll be around for that?” Loki asked.

Darcy stiffened again. Her eyebrows narrowed in suspicion. “That’s not funny,” she said. “That’s not even remotely funny.” She insisted. She raised her hands. “If you’re just gonna screw around with me again,” she said as she took a few steps back, “then you can fuck off with that.” She turned to walk off down the beach, her irritation levels spiking. Why did he have to act like this? Always winding her up, always worrying her. Did he get some pleasure out of playing games?

“Darcy,” Loki’s tone was sincere as he took her wrist. “I’m sorry. Stay, let’s go a little further,” he suggested,

Darcy hesitated. “Only if you stop acting like a complete prick.”

He laughed a little and offered his arm, to Darcy’s surprise, “I make no promises but I’ll try.”

She hesitated for a second before slipping her arm through his and falling into step alongside him. They must look so ordinary to other people, she thought as she looked around. Just an ordinary couple, taking a romantic stroll. None of the messy stuff that was the reality and the extra terrestrial worries that hovered outside of the mess.

“Do you wish you had that normal life?” Loki asked after a few moments. They’d walked beyond the curve of the beach. Thick forest shrouded the town from sight now. It was extremely peaceful and the gentle lapping of the waves of the lake made Darcy relax a little even with Loki’s question. She looked up at him, not bothering to comment on his invasive mind reading. She could see that his face lacked all expression. Well almost all. There seemed to be concern stirring within his eyes/

“Well yeah, it’d be easier,” Darcy said with no hesitation. She felt Loki’s muscles tense with her answer. Was he _disappointed?_

“Of course,” Loki agreed.

“But I wouldn’t wish our baby away now,” Darcy added, “if I could.” She knew, even as she said it, that it was the utmost truth.

“You wouldn’t?” Loki asked her, still not looking at her. “Even though they are the child of a monster.”

“You’re not a monster,” Darcy said automatically with exasperation, taking both herself and Loki by surprise. He looked at her then, his green eyes bright and clear. Darcy swallowed and it was her turn to look away. “I don’t know why I think that. I should think you’re a monster.”

“Lies,” Loki said gently. “You do know why you think that.”

Darcy frowned at him. “Then I shouldn’t have to say it, should I?”

“You believed what I told you. You think like Mother.” Loki said assertively, his gaze moving over her face, reading her.

“No,” Darcy frowned. “Your mother’s a lot more forgiving, a lot more accepting. I only said I didn’t think you were a monster,” she told him. Loki’s expression didn’t change. Darcy maintained a level stare with him. “Look if you’re reading my mind again then there’s really no fucking point in us having this conversation.”

“I’m not,” Loki said in a surprisingly somber tone. “I’m just wondering what you’re doing here on this beach with me if that’s all you think of me.”

Darcy felt herself bristle. What was he suggesting? That she might care for him? That somehow she had feelings from him after their passionate encounter? She pursed her lips, anger flaring in her eye. She was mixed up about him to be sure but _that_ was the last thing she was thinking about right now. _That_ had sort of got her in this predicament in the first place. She was just about to snap back that he could forget those delusions when Loki spoke again.

“You understand,” Loki told her. “You don’t just believe me, you’re understanding. That’s why you tolerate me.”

Darcy planted both hands on her hips, hooking her thumbs into the belt of her coat. “Well obviously you don’t need me to talk here, you’ve decided everything yourself.”

Loki shook his head, his expression serious. “I’m not reading your mind. I’m reading your face. If you didn’t understand or accept me for what I’ve done, you wouldn’t be here. You would be scared of me.”

“I don’t scare easily,” Darcy answered.

“I’m beginning to see that,” Loki mused. He began to walk on ahead and slowly Darcy followed him. “How far does this beach go?” he asked, surprising Darcy with the randomness of the question.

“Uh, all the way around the lake,” she told him.

He stopped again, turning around. “Easy enough for me to do but you’ve got our little one to think about now,” he commented. “There’s some rocks up ahead, we could sit there.”

Darcy peered around him and smiled. “Yep, that’s Aiora’s cluster.”

“Aiora’s what?”

“There’s a story to it,” Darcy said, stepping up beside him. “Aiora was a beautiful girl who many guys wanted. Anyway she was sick of being pursued, she didn’t want any of them. So she hid in a cave on the beach. She prayed to a god and they barricaded the cave so no one could reach her. But the lake eroded the rocks so it wasn’t a cave anymore, it was a cluster.”

“But this Aiora would have been dead by then,” Loki commented.

“Yeah. I mean she must have starved to death,” Darcy said. “But the story goes that she drowned when the water flooded in. Guess it’s less gruesome than starving to death.”

Loki gave her a bemused smile. “How is suffocating more gruesome than wasting away?” he asked.

Darcy rolled her eyes. “You probably haven’t seen as many horror movies as I have.”

“It makes no sense. Drowning is far more peaceful than starving to death,” Loki scoffed with a shake of his head. “But this story,” he commented as he and Darcy walked further along the beach, “it’s a folk tale.”

“Oh yeah, totally. I mean if there were gods like that then surely they would have helped the girl.” Darcy speculated. “Or perved on her. I mean, I doubt they would have let her die unless she’d just say no too many times or something.” Darcy had read bits and bobs of different mythologies. A bit more on Norse since meeting Thor but even then her knowledge was still rather scatty. She then eyed Loki. “But then you’re a god. Sure this isn’t anything to do with you?” she challenged jokingly. “Because if you’re thinking of trapping me in there, you’re in for a rude surprise space boy.”

“Space _man_ ,” Loki scoffed, grinning over at her, “let’s be real. You and I both know that, Darcy.”

She was silent for a moment. “That’s true. If nothing else, that’s true.”

Loki let out a laugh. “Charming."

They reached the rocks and Darcy watched Loki examine them with some interest before he stepped up onto some of the larger rocks. (Damn him with his long legs, Darcy thought as she perched on a lower, flat rock.) Loki grinned down at her before he looked out across the lake. Darcy followed his gaze and couldn’t help but smile.

The lake was extraordinarily beautiful. In fact the whole area was. The town of Adavale was tucked away here in this lovely part of the world, with the mountains gathering protectively and the lake acting as the blue jewel of the area. Forests climbed over the mountains, hiding the roads that wound up towards the hidden houses like her own. On the far side of the beach there was a little port where sailors set out across the lake to far off towns. And all the while life in this little area, carried on, unpolluted.

“I love water,” Darcy said automatically and then immediately felt lame. It was something a child might say. Which is probably what she sounded like to Loki right now. She didn’t look at him. She didn’t need to see the smirk that he probably wore.

“So do I,” Loki answered. Darcy looked up at him. He didn’t look back at her. “It’s peaceful,” he answered her unspoken question but this time Darcy didn’t get the impression he was reading her mind. “Not bothered by life’s dramas. It just flows,” he continued before an edge crept into his voice, “even when humans dump their filth into it, it carries on.”

“You talk like there’s a life to it,” Darcy murmured.

At that, he did look at her. “There is. It might not be the kind of life you and I share,” he said and the word made Darcy’s insides tingled, “but there is a life in it.”

“Not according to science,” Darcy answered, looking back over at the lake.

“Science is so absolute, sometimes,” Loki answered. “These people do not truly recognise that life and science can exist in all things. Not just humans. We live because our organs are providing us a life force but science does not explain all feelings, all desires to love and hurt. So why can water not be a force of science and life?” he asked. This time Darcy could hear the smile in his voice.

“I guess it can,” Darcy said, bringing her legs up on the rock. “And it saves lives.”

Loki chuckled. “I’m sure your people would put that down to science but it does. Darcy,” he called to her, “come up here.”

Darcy eyed the place where he was sat. “Uh, that looks awkward for short people to get to.” There was a quick route via climbing over some very point and not at all flat-friendly rocks. Suddenly Loki climbed off his perch and with a few nimble jumps from rock to rock, landed next to her.

“I’ll carry you,” he told her.

She flushed and frowned all at once. “Hell no, you’ll drop me.”

“I promise, I won’t.” Loki told her before kneeling and lifting her up bridal style. Darcy’s arms wound around his neck automatically.

“Wait!” Darcy protested anxiously. “You drop me and you’re coming down with me.”

“It will not come to that,” Loki said and so he moved quickly across the rocks, Darcy’s stomach plummeting each time he did. But he was very well balanced and her weight didn’t seem to affect him one bit. He set her down gently and she shifted as he took a seat next to her.

The rock they were on wasn’t much higher than where she had been sitting before but still, the view seemed so much better. Darcy stretched out her legs behind Loki, leaning on her hip and propping a hand on the rock, holding herself in a sitting position as she gazed outward over the lake. Next to her, Loki moved so that he sat at a right angle between a view of her and the lake. He watched her with a bemused expression and Darcy wondered if he was reading her mind. She wondered if there was a way to block him out. Like if she imagined a massive door, like in that episode of Doctor Who where those robots were after Madame de Pompadour and the Doctor had to look in her mind. He’d said to imagine a door over things that she didn’t want him to see. If only Darcy could do that with Loki.

“I am going to look out for you and the child.” He suddenly declared, his eyes focused on hers.

“I never said you weren’t.” Darcy pointed out.

“No but I can see it in your eyes. You don’t trust me. I don’t suppose I blame you considering how I’ve made you worry,” he said. “But I am going to keep you both safe.” His gaze became serious for a moment before he looked around them. “You picked a beautiful part of the world to bring our child up, Darcy.”

Darcy smiled at the view, herself. “I didn’t know I was pregnant back then but it is beautiful.”

“I did,” Loki said quietly. “I knew.”

“Eh, what?” Darcy asked. “About me being pregnant?”

“I knew as soon as I read Mother’s mind back in the cell.”

“What?!” Darcy yelped. “You knew and said nothing?”

“That was why I gave you the money.”

“But why didn’t you tell me?”

Loki shrugged. “I don’t have a reason. You probably would have freaked out but that wasn’t why I kept quiet.”

Darcy’s eyebrows narrowed. “You thought I’d have an abortion?”

“Darcy you can still have one.” Loki declared though his voice lost some of its energy. “If that was my intention I wouldn’t have come clean about this now.” Loki argued back.

“I don’t want an abortion,” Darcy reaffirmed. She rested her hands in her lap. “I want to keep the baby.” It was kind of touching that Loki seemed to be relieved that this statement. “It would have just been nice to know about it.”

“Darcy you were stressed out about what happened enough. It was good you found out in your own time,” Loki argued, his face expressionless.

Darcy pursed her lips, unable to help agreeing with his logic. At least when she had found out, she’d had a doctor there to calm her down. She probably would have yelled at Loki if he’d tried to sooth her. Still, she didn’t like the idea that he’d known about this before her. But it wasn’t worth arguing about. Instead of answering his comment, Darcy looked out over the lake. Loki was right, it was a beautiful place to bring up her baby.

Images of teaching the baby to walk on the sand, creating sandcastles, letting them paddle in the shallowest parts of the lake, picnics on the beach and pushing a pushchair through town, flooded into Darcy’s head. Images of her baby’s smile, its laugh, filled her mind. Darcy smiled as she thought about them. She imagined teaching them to talk, telling them stories on the beach, watching the Northern Lights and answering questions about what made them, why they were those colours and all the questions that children asked, that adults didn’t really think about.

“I love this place. It’s so quiet. Like the rest of the world doesn’t touch it.” A hidden piece of paradise. Well not that well hidden but considering how peaceful it was here, that had to stand for something.

Loki didn’t respond. He was staring out over the lake and this time Darcy didn’t feel the inclination to interrupt him. Having him around was weirdly uncomfortable and also really frustrating at the same time. Would he ever pick a side, a way he wanted to be? But Frigga had warned her, somewhat anyway, that he was unpredictable. Although Darcy had pretty much gotten that memo back in the cell.

They sat there for a while before Darcy felt her stomach rumble. She placed a hand on it just as Loki touched his own. They glanced at each other and Darcy couldn’t help but grin at the same time as him. “So lunch?” she asked.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Somehow the walk back to the town seemed a little longer. More people were walking along the immediate stretch of beach. Darcy checked her watch. It was about two o’clock. The rush time rush was cooling off now. Shouldn’t be too hard to get a decent table somewhere.

“Do you have anywhere in mind?” Loki asked as they ascended the slope back up into town.

In the centre of town there was a considerably sized shopping centre, a mixture of stores and restaurants. There were wooden statues of sailors, adventurers and animals dotted about the place. Darcy really liked the quirky features of these places. She also liked that there were plenty of benches to sit down on between stores. Darcy’s feet had never been designed for serious shopping. She’d always been the type to grab what she wanted or liked and then leave.

“Pingu’s is pretty good,” she answered, thinking about a large but cozy cafe on one side of the shopping centre.

It wasn’t a far walk from the beach and the cafe looked out over the lake and mountains. It was a huge space despite looking smaller from outside. (Darcy had had a long and playful debate with a barista about the cafe actually being a TARDIS in disguise. The discussion had only been made even more brilliant by the barista being nearly as much of a super-nerd as Darcy could be about the show.) The tables were arranged in a mixture of standard tables and booths. There was a huge fireplace at one end of the room. Darcy imagined the tables around it would be snapped up first in the winter.

There weren’t many customers in right now. So Darcy gravitated towards one of the booths near the window and removed her scarf and coat. Loki removed his suit jacket which made Darcy giggled as it really made little difference since his shirt was just as black. Although his shirt did draw attention to his lean chest. Darcy had to make an effort not to remember this morning.

“And why are you laughing?” Loki asked, raising one brow delicately. Posh git, Darcy thought. He even made little expressions like that look classy. When he did it, he looked intrigued and fascinated. When Darcy did that, she just looked clueless. She resisted the urge to kick him. _No, we_ _’re playing nice,_ she reminded herself, thinking about their strange and yet pleasant walk on the beach. Who knew gods of mischief were good at that kind of stuff?

Loki handed her a menu and glanced over his own. He then looked at her. “How’s the morning sickness?” he suddenly asked, lifting his head with an expression of concern. Darcy blinked, having forgotten about that spell.

“Oh, uh, it’s not bothering me at the moment.”

Loki slid a hand across the table and turned his palm upwards. “Give me your hand,” he told her.

Darcy couldn’t resist. “I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to ask my dad first.” Not that she had anyone to ask but still. Loki looked confused for a moment and Darcy internally cheered for the half second she’d actually surprised him, before he rolled his eyes, smiling a little.

“That was rather good but come now, give me your hand.” Loki told her with warmth and humour in his voice. Darcy grinned as she slid her hand into his.

Once again she thought about how ordinary they must look to everyone else. Like any other couple. Except that they weren’t a couple. They were just… well not friends. Kind of like the Ross and Rachel scenario without the friendship thing. Although she didn’t quite know how to define Loki right now. She wondered if this was a common problem his family had with him. Do you love the guy or throttle him? Darcy figured she should stop dwelling on Loki now just in case he decided to take a peek into her mind. But when Darcy looked up, Loki was looking down at their hands.

His skin was so soft, sending tingles through hers at their connected hand. Loki’s fingers gently wrapped around her hand. His thumb stroked the back of it and suddenly Darcy felt magic being spread through her hand and wrist and forearm until it spread over her body in a very pleasant jolt that she wasn’t quite able to suppress. But then, she didn’t suppose that would be noticed much. She’d seen movies where people had such chemistry that they made each other shudder.

After the magic had passed through her, Loki let go of her hand and for a second, Darcy missed the touch. But she withdrew her hand and picked up her menu again. “So that was the spell? How long does it last?”

“A day,” Loki answered without looking up from his menu. “I’ll put it on again before you go to bed,” he added.

“Thanks,” Darcy said, glad to focus on her own menu as they both decided on what to order.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You’ve picked the ideal place to bring our baby up,” Loki commented speculatively as he sipped his hot chocolate and gazed out of the window.

He seemed really taken with this place, Darcy thought as she nursed her own drink. She could have commented on how he’d already made a similar statement earlier but honestly it was quite sweet hearing him gush about the place. Mainly because she didn’t really hear him praise anything much.

“I’m not gushing, it’s a fact,” Loki said without looking at her though his lips quirked upwards.

Darcy didn’t even glare at him for mind-reading or spare him an eye-roll. She was too comfortable and happily dosed up with sugar to get into a spat about him being an invasive douche again. Besides she was a little intrigued now.

“The temperature here will be ideal for our baby, with it being half Jotunn. It won’t be able to withstand temperatures that I can but it will be more comfortable in cooler temperatures.”

“Well I wasn’t exactly planning on taking the baby to the North Pole,” Darcy retorted.

Loki chuckled. “I doubt there’s wi-fi there. I know how much you love that. And your Netflix.” There was a teasing glint in Loki’s eye and Darcy would have rolled her eyes if she didn’t suspect that she’d done it enough for it to become her gimmick by now. Ideally it would be cool to _not_ add to the list of things that he could tease her with. Not that she couldn’t give as good as she got but arguing with Loki was exhausting on the soul.

She sipped from her mug. “Don’t knock the Netflix. You’re just unofficiated in the art of it.”

Loki raised one brow again. “I suppose you will have to instruct me. I consider myself a master of the arts,” he smirked.

“Yeah the art of being an ass.”

Loki chuckled. “That is a speciality I am most proud of.”

“Wow, and here’s me thinking that you couldn’t be even more of one,” Darcy fired back, smirking herself before shaking her head.

“’Couldn’t’ isn’t in my vocabulary, Darcy,” Loki chuckled.

Darcy was tempted to argue but this conversation had all the hallmarks of one that would keep going round in a vicious circle. So she broke it off. “So,” she said, her mind dancing over anything they could talk about. Anything that would be more interesting than this. “Is there anything else about the baby I should know?” she asked. “You said my appetite’s probably going be insane.”

“It probably won’t be as large as a normal Jotunn or Aesir’s might be. But even by human pregnancy standards, you’ll be eating a lot.”

“So I’m going to get fatter,” Darcy answered, “great, thanks baby.”

Loki scoffed. “You humans and worrying about vanity at a time like this.”

“I was joking, you ass.” Darcy puffed herself up a little. She knew she looked good with more curves. There had been a part of her life just before college where she had lost a lot of weight. Not quite eating disorder thin but it had looked horrible on her. She’d only done it when she’d had brief aspirations of becoming a swimmer and you lost a lot of weight from it. But ever since then she hadn’t deviated much from her current weight.

“You know it’s a well established fact that pregnant women are more sexually attractive. You’ve heard of the glow, exuded by pregnant women?”

Darcy frowned. “Yeah but I thought that was a myth.”

“Well it’s not an actual glow, Darcy.”

Darcy’s cheeks coloured. “I don’t mean- I thought it was just something men said to be, nice, you know? While they’re congratulating themselves on scoring a goal in our freakin’ uterus.”

Loki snorted, his eyes widening in surprise and he placed the back of his hand against his mouth as he chuckled. Darcy smiled, pleased at having provoked that reaction from him. “Scoring a goal?” Loki repeated. “Oh Darcy you do have some priceless phrases.” He continued to chuckle. “Still, I’ve heard worse euphemisms for pregnancy,” he added. “The ‘up the creek without a paddle’ is especially amusing.”

Darcy smiled widely. “I like that one too. Although it seems a little tame for our situation.”

Loki stroked his chin. “I doubt our situation can be summed up by one of those euphemisms.”

“True.”

 

 


End file.
